Baker A. Mitchell Jr., the founder of The Roger Bacon Academy in Leland, N.C, has an excellent piece that appeared in The National Review. The article, Why Johnny Still Can't Read, points to the causes of reading failure throughout the country and the solutions to this failure. Mitchell writes that "Public schools are passing students who can't read at any level - all to avoid blaming teachers, lawmakers, and bureaucrats." Drawing on the experience of the four charter schools that he oversees that implement Reading Mastery and Language for Learning, as well as the experience of other schools implementing DI, He stresses that instructional solutions are available that can ensure virtually all students learn to read in a timely manner.

We encourage you to read the article and comment. The more discussions like this that are brought to the forefront the more likely people are to take notice and act!

Corrective Mathematics, available from McGraw-Hill Education, is a remedial system that solves a wide range of problems for struggling older students, even if they have failed with other approaches. These intervention programs feature explicit, step-by-step lessons that are grouped into separate modules that may be taught separately or concurrently to customize instruction for particular student needs. The program contains modules for addition; subtraction; multiplication; division; basic fractions; fractions, decimals, percents; and ratios and equations. Upon completion of one or more of the modules, students are armed with the fundamental strategies they need to access conventional math instruction with success.

NIFDI recommends the use of Corrective Mathematics with older students (Grades 4 and up) whose math performance is characterized by a weak grasp of the basics, lack of facility with math facts, inaccurate computation, and a lack of strategies for problem solving, as opposed to using the developmental series, Connecting Math Concepts.

Click here to view the Corrective Mathematics placement test, sample lessons, and ordering information.

Over the past several months NIFDI has hosted several popular webinars on how to deliver Direct Instruction programs in a distance learning environment. These webinars were attended by hundreds of educators around the world as live events. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

The webinars help viewers understand the strengths and limitations of various delivery modes (live individual or group instruction, prerecorded lessons, packets of homework, and others). NIFDI has made these webinars available for on-demand viewing through our store.

Programs covered include

• Corrective Reading Decoding A
  
• Corrective Reading Decoding B1, B2, and C
  
• Reading Mastery Signature Grades K and 1 Language
• Reading Mastery Signature Grades K and 1 Reading (2 parts)

Each webinar is about 75 minutes long. The purchase price of $40.00 includes all participant materials as well as a link to the presentation. This pricing is for individual use. Please contact us at info@nifdi.org for school pricing. Purchase the webinars here.

The Engelmann Foundation, created in 1997, is dedicated to continuing the legacy of Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann through the support, promotion, and development of educators around the world implementing Direct Instruction with their students. Over the past 20 years, the foundation has distributed 56 grants totaling over $325,000.

The Engelmann Foundation offers two grant opportunities: Conference Grants and General Grants. Conference Grants are tailored to provide funds to attend the annual National Direct Instruction Conference hosted by the National Institute for Direct Instruction in Eugene, Oregon each July. General Grants are designed to support projects, training and development, implementation, and other similar endeavors that utilize Direct Instruction (DI) programs. Both grant application types operate on a twice-yearly schedule. The deadlines for submitting grants are 5:00 pm PDT December 1st and June 1st. Note that while grant applications are accepted on an on-going basis, applications will be held for consideration until the next grant cycle deadline.

For more information on the foundation and to make a grant application, go to https://engelmannfoundation.org/