A Guide to Direct Instruction

To the consternation of popularized educational theories, Direct Instruction consistently and convincingly outperforms every theory, program, and procedure they espouse. Proponents of those theories continue to vilify and disparage Direct Instruction despite nearly 50 years of data that proves them at minimum naïve, at worst dangerously wrong. A Guide to Direct Instruction provides an overview of how Direct Instruction is different from these popular theories and programs, how it is logically designed according to the way humans learn, how it ensures that all students learn what is presented, and, finally, what changes are required of schools to accelerate the learning of all students.

The authors have over 80 years combined experience with Direct Instruction, from classroom teaching for developmentally delayed pre-K children and deaf students to elementary and middle school students, from teacher training to evaluation of DI schools, from single school DI implementations to 120 school district-wide implementations, and from research on DI to authoring Direct Instruction programs.

The introductory chapter provides a brief history of Direct Instruction and some of the basic beliefs of DI—namely that all students can learn if given good instruction and that if students do not learn, then the fault lies not with the student but with what and how they were taught. In other words, there are no learning failures, only instructional failures.

The second chapter presents an overview of the huge research database on Direct Instruction, research which shows that Direct Instruction consistently and convincingly outperforms all other programs. The common criticisms of DI are shown to be both misinformed and misguided.

Chapter 3 presents a summary of the compelling logic underlying the design of Direct Instruction programs, the ways that DI programs are constructed to be maximally efficient and effective, and the type of rigorous field-testing that is done before they are published. While this chapter will not teach anyone how to develop Direct Instruction programs, it will give an appreciation of the logical analysis and detail that goes into DI programs, logic and details that other instructional programs never deal with or incorporate.

Even a perfectly constructed instructional program can be rendered ineffective by inept teaching, and that is the subject of Chapter 4. The rationale behind specific presentation techniques and routines are explained, techniques and routines that make learning easier for students and that ensure all students learn as much as they can. The explanations include why students answer as a group, why every error is corrected, why students are tested for mastery every lesson, and why rates of progress are so important.

The last chapter explains what needs to be in place in order for a school to maximize student performance. The over-riding concern for student mastery and progress creates new roles and responsibilities for administrators, coordinators, and teachers. The implementation of Direct Instruction programs initially requires on-going training and supervision. Structures and procedures need to be established for recording and analyzing student performance data and making adjustments. Procedures need to be in place to celebrate student and teacher success.