The National Institute for Direct Instruction, in conjunction with the National Direct Instruction Conference, was pleased to present several recognitions the night of July 26th. The Wesley Becker Excellent School Award was given to two schools this year. The first recognition went to the Charter Day School (CDS), located in Leland, North Carolina. This tuition-free public charter school was established in 1999 and serves 950 k-8 students, utilizing Direct Instruction programs as its core curriculum. CDS parent of three students, Jennifer London notes, "CDS delivers on its promise to have all Kindergartners reading by January in their first year of school. This is unheard of in a school that doesn't use DI!" The hard work and dedication of the staff and students of CDS has consistently earned them much county and statewide recognition. 

A Becker Excellent School Award was also presented to Bancroft-Rosealie Elementary School in Bancroft, Nebraska. This rural pre-6 school has been utilizing DI for the past 10 years. The school is a 2015 US Department of Education (USDOE) Blue Ribbon School and the Principal, Dr. Jon Cerny, is a 2015 USDOE Terrell Bell Award winner. In their path to school-wide implementation of DI, Reading Coach Karin Vogt says, "When we implemented Reading Mastery our special education kids were out-reading the core program. The next year the first-grade class wanted it, then kindergarten. Everyone wanted to try. It was a no-brainer." In 2015, students reached 96 percent proficiency in reading and 94 percent proficiency in math. The support leadership of the administration, along with the commitment of staff to implement with fidelity, has lead to amazing results! 

Grade 5 teacher Toni Hatten is the recipient of the Siegfried Engelmann Excellence in Education Award. Toni teaches at Broadbeach State School in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. Broadbeach principal Michael Roberts wrote in his nomination, "She has been able to successfully advocate the use of Direct Instruction with a focus on delivery and passion. She spends a great deal of each week modeling lessons and coaching other teachers at Broadbeach to implement all DI programs to a high standard."