There is a common misconception that Direct Instruction (DI) programs were not developed or intended for core instruction. Often, DI is relegated to the role of intervention for low-performing students. However, DI was designed from the beginning to provide core instructional programming in reading, math and language arts.

Read more about DI's design as a core, its role in comprehensive school reform, validation of its use as a core, examples of its use as a core and the effectiveness of using DI as an intervention only by following our link below. The article is a great resource to have on hand and can be used with stakeholders such as school boards, administrators or teachers, or as a press release for more widespread dissemination of information.

Article: Direct Instruction as Core Instructional Programs

Standards, accountability and curriculum weigh heavily on the minds of today’s administrators and educational decision-makers. In recent years, the Common Core State Standards have become a universal language for schools across our nation and play a significant role in instructional decisions made in schools, including curriculum selections. An evaluation of Reading Mastery Signature Edition (RMSE), a well-known and commonly used Direct Instruction (DI) program, has been conducted by McGraw-Hill to determine the alignment of the program’s content with the English Language Arts common core standards.

Download a copy of the article  pdf here .

The National Institute for Direct Instruction’s (NIFDI) Office of Research recently compiled an extensive bibliography on Direct Instruction’s research that are organized by the type of research design used and by publication year, with entries ranging from the early 1970s to studies as recent as 2011. Many of these works are also included in NIFDI’s online searchable research database. The bibliography is available here.

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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.