We are often asked about visiting schools that use Direct Instruction (DI) and work with the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI). Visitors are interested in seeing what DI is all about and how it looks in the classroom. While there are many schools implementing DI with NIFDI support, City Springs School in Baltimore, Maryland is a model impelmentation that welcomes visitors to their site. To learn more about City Springs, including how to schedule a visit, click here.

The Cairns Post Newspaper published an article today, February 27th, 2012, about schools in northern Australia working with NIFDI who are reaping the benefits of using DI. Students at Djarragun College* in Cairns - the second largest city in Queensland - are increasingly motivated to attend school and challenge themselves in improving their literacy and math skills. Djarragun College is one of four schools in Cape York working with NIFDI.

See the full article on Cairns Post's website here.

* NOTE: Secondary schools in Australia are referred to as "colleges", rather than "high schools" or "secondary schools" like they are in the US.

Zig has just authored a new paper: Homework is Cruel in the Primary Grades. In his paper, Engelmann outlines the need for sound instructional practices versus the traditional homework regimen. Click here to visit his site at www.zigsite.com to download his latest paper and learn why those who champion homework discriminate against at-risk populations!

Schools everywhere are faced with high academic standards and are charged with evaluating programs and practices to find which ones will yield the best possible results for their students. They must determine which curriculum to implement in their districts and schools, a decision that becomes more difficult in the face of high expectations and low budgets. Is it worth spending the money on a different program? Will the extra expenditure generate different results? These questions plagued a school in Illinois who called in researchers to help answer them. School leaders asked researchers to compare the effectiveness of the program they had been using for the past eight years, Scott Foresman’s Celebrate Reading, with another program they were considering for adoption, Reading Mastery. 

Find out more about the researchers learned here.