Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann began his investigation into education when he was in advertising. He needed information on how many exposures it took for children to recognize or remember slogans presented on TV. Finding very little research, Zig set out on his own to get the answers to his questions.

As Zig writes in his book Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward System, he wanted to get a job in education, so he decided to create a film of his sons Kurt and Owen (four-year-old fraternal twins) “working math problems–areas of rectangles, simple algebra, and other skills that were not generally mastered until children were in fourth grade. To show I was not 'cheating,' there was only one camera and no cuts in the action.”

He showed the film to 17 organizations and companies concerned with educating children, and “although they had never seen 4-year-olds perform like the boys did in the film, they did not seem even slightly impressed. One of the last presentations I made was to four people from SRA (Science Research Associates), the publisher that would later publish over thirty instructional programs my colleagues and I developed.”

Ultimately, the eighteenth and last entry on Zig’s list of places to contact was the prestigious Institute for Research on Exceptional Children at the University of Illinois. Zig presented to James Gallagher and Carl Berieter, who, after viewing the film, were very intrigued. They hired Zig as a research associate, and the rest is history.

Click here to watch the film that started it all.

NIFDI is pleased to announce that IDEA Travis Academy has been selected to receive the 2023 Wesley Becker Excellent School Award. Travis was nominated by NIFDI Implementation Manager Kris Althoff. Travis Academy is located in Midland, Texas. Listed as a failing school in 2018-19, in 2021-22, they achieved a “B” rating and are anticipating an “A” rating when the 2022-23 ratings are released. Eighty- three percent of Travis students met or exceeded their individual growth goal on the STAAR exam.

In her rationale, Kris lists some amazing performance statistics achieved at Travis. These statistics reflect the percentage of students meeting their targeted lesson performance at mastery.

• Pre-K has obtained a 98% average for reading, math, and language.
• Kindergarten has obtained a 98% average for reading, math, and language.
• First Grade has obtained an 86% average in reading. With two weeks of better school left and summer school, it is anticipated first grade will reach 90% or
• Second Grade has obtained a 92% average in reading. Congratulations to the leadership, instructional staff, and certainly, just as important, the students. You all put in the hard work and show dedication worthy of this recognition.

Click here to access the podcast.

Some sessions are filling up for the 49th National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes at the Graduate Hotel in Eugene, Oregon, July 24-28, 2023. The conference includes training on all of the main DI programs. To date, we have 213 registrants traveling to Eugene from around the world!

In response to participant feedback, the Administrator's 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.