Three hundred educators from around the world gathered at the end of July in Eugene, Oregon for the 48th National Direct Instruction Conference. The opening session included the presentation of the Wayne Carnine Student Improvement Award and a keynote delivered by Anita Archer.

The Carnine Award went to Raymond Minney, a student at David Douglas Arthur Academy in Portland, Oregon. Doug and Linda Carnine read from the nomination letters submitted by Raymond’s Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th-5th grade teachers, and his intervention specialist. When Linda asked Raymond if he had anything to say, he simply said, “Never give up!”

The opening continued with an excellent keynote by Dr. Anita Archer. Anita guided the group through many of her “Archerisms.” These are Anita’s Golden Principles of Explicit Direct Instruction. These include such sage advice as “Avoid the void, for they will fill it.” And “Don’t commit assumicide.”

Click here to view the conference opening. Also, it’s not too early to begin planning to be in Eugene for the 49th National DI Conference, July 24-28, 2023.

On Friday, July 29, at the closing of the National Direct Instruction Conference, NIFDI, along with the Direct Instruction Community, honored Mary Gleason, Kathy Madigan, and Vicky Vachon in a ceremony inducting them into the Direct Instruction Hall of Fame. Those in attendance heard about the dedication each of them has shown over the years and the impact they have had on the lives of thousands of students, teachers, and colleagues. Their stories are moving and very inspirational. Click here to see the video.

Newsweek Magazine has just published an excellent opinion piece written by Baker A. Mitchell Jr., founder of The Roger Bacon Academy (RBA) in Leland, NC.

When COVID closed the regular public schools in the area, the four charter schools that RBA manages remained open and were faced with an overwhelming number of transfer requests. They were able to accommodate just under 500 of the requests, boosting enrollment by 25%, up to over 2,500. Almost half of the new first and second-grade students could not pass the basic assessment for entering a beginning reading program. Through careful teaching utilizing DI programs, many of these students realized “two and in some cases three to four years of growth in reading from the time they stepped through our doors.”

Click here to read the full article.

We are pleased to announce that Raymond Minney, a student at the David Douglas Arthur Academy (DDAA) in Portland, Oregon, has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Wayne Carnine Student Improvement Award.

Ray has just completed 5th grade and is moving on to middle school. Ray’s Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th-5th grade teachers, as well as the Intervention Specialist at DDAA wrote letters of support, detailing Ray’s struggle to learn to read beginning in Kindergarten. The staff at DDAA worked to support Ray and continued to work with him one-on-one via Google Meet throughout the almost 2-year COVID

interruption. Throughout this time, Ray worked hard and began 5th grade and joined his grade-level reading class. He is now reading 110 correct words per minute without any errors and he is now earning A’s (95% or above) in all subjects.

Intervention Specialist Elissa McIntosh wrote, “In my ten plus years of being an educator, I have never seen this much tremendous growth in a student... Not only has Ray exhibited remarkable academic success with the Direct Instruction curriculum, but he has also demonstrated a true love for learning, regardless of how difficult it may have been for him. I am confident Ray is going to go on and do amazing things and become an integral part of our society."

Ray will be presented with his award during the opening of the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene on Tuesday, July 26th. We hope you can be with us then to congratulate Ray.