A new addition to our website is the inclusion of student demonstrations of their reading skills. The three videos can be found here. These clips are from students at IDEA Travis Academy in Mission, Texas. Travis uses Reading Mastery Signature Edition in grades k-2 with great success. You can see the confidence and enthusiasm they show in these short interviews/demonstrations. We plan on adding more clips and will let you know as we expand the collection.

On Friday, May 19th, Travel Lane County, a non-profit organization that promotes tourism in Lane County, recognized Bryan Wickman, NIFDI Outreach Director, for his many years of successfully managing the annual Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene, Oregon. Bryan received the Convention Leadership Award, one of five awards given this year to individuals or organizations that promote travel to Lane County. View a photo of the awardees here and a one-minute video on Bryan and his excellent management of the conference here. To congratulate Bryan on this award, email him at bwickman@nifdi.org or call him at 1-877-485-1973 x147. He richly deserves this recognition!

NIFDI will hold the 49th National Direct Instruction Conference Institutes at the Graduate Hotel in Eugene, Oregon, July 24-28, 2023. The conference includes training on all of the main DI programs.

We are excited to host John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D., as our opening keynote speaker on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. John was a faculty member at the School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in Special Education in 1976 from the University of Oregon. While at the U of O, he studied under Barbara Bateman and spent a lot of time with Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann, creator of DI. John credits them, among others, for giving him the foundation that understanding the needs of all learners, especially those with special needs, is critical for educators. He co-edits the journal Exceptional Children, the flagship publication of The Council for Exceptional Children. He is an excellent speaker and prolific writer. He publishes a newsletter, Special Education Today, which we encourage you to check out.  

In response to participant feedback, the Administrator Leadership Institute has been expanded to 5 full days. We also have brought back the popular pre-conference sessions, including a presentation by Anita Archer based on her book, Explicit Instruction. New sessions include training on Direct Instruction Spoken English, DI and the Science of Reading, Sensible Sequences, and many more!

Click here to view highlights of the conference and what past attendees say about their experience at past conferences.

Mark your calendar now and plan on spending a productive and enjoyable week with our team of expert trainers. To view the schedule, lodging, and cost information, click here.  Click here to download the full brochure.

In-class coaching helps teachers to become master Direct Instruction (DI) teachers. It is intended to improve teachers’ mastery of DI techniques at the same time that it builds teachers’ confidence in their abilities to effect positive changes in student performance. Coaching involves observing teachers instructing groups, providing specific feedback on what was observed, demonstrating parts of lessons, and modeling entire lessons.

NIFDI is now making our coaching expertise available to schools that are not implementing the full NIFDI Model. The focus is on student performance and student behavior. Coaching visits are designed to provide useful feedback to teachers and the building coordinator about what’s working well for students and what needs improvement. NIFDI coaches reinforce what’s working well and ask staff to change only those teaching behaviors that make a difference with children. The orientation of the coaching visits is that learning problems should be solved jointly between the coach and the school.

If you are interested in finding out about how a NIFDI coach can help improve your DI outcomes, send an email to info@nifdi.org! or read a description here.