Fall 2011 DI News

Direct Instruction news Effective School Practices

DON CRAWFORD and RANDI SAULTER, Editors

DI Treats for Fall Welcome to the fall 2011 edition of the DI News. We have a number of tasty treats in this issue that we hope you enjoy. We have two success stories in this issue. One school, Stevenson Elementary, in Kentucky, has seen amazing growth since the adoption of DI some four years ago. This school is assisted in its implementation by ERI (Educational Resources, Inc.) which helped them achieve great gains. We are always happy to include success stories in the DI News and look for other implementation companies and consultants to send us their stories.

The second school, David Douglas Arthur Academy, in Portland, Oregon, received the Wes Becker Award for Excellence at the ADI national conference this year. This charter school has had high scores since its inception— because of being a school that uses DI programs all day, all the time. However, the school won the award in large part because of the extraordinary leadership of its principal, Stephani Brown.

She began as a third grade teacher and

article will let you in on what you missed. after several stellar years was promoted to the leadership position. Stephani is a constant source of encouragement to her staff and instills in every teacher the desire for excellence in teaching.

Read about the results in the article.

Your editors have written an article about excellence in teaching as well.

The same evaluative methods that are used by consultants and implementation companies to achieve excellent results in schools can also be applied by teachers to themselves. Our article details how to go about assessing oneself in six key areas and choosing how to go about making improvements. If you strive to be an excellent educator, you may find this article helpful.

We have an article describing the awards ceremony at the national ADI conference this year. Kace Wickman’s reporting on the event is so well written that those who were lucky enough to attend will recall it fondly. If you were not able to be in Eugene, this

AMY JOHNSTON, Executive Director, Association for Direct Instuction

ADI News The summer season is always a busy and exciting time for the Association.

In July we hosted more than 600 educators from around the world at the 37th Annual National DI Conference in Eugene. Three weeks later we were in Ashland, Oregon for our first-ever Southern Oregon Conference, where attendance soared above 200 educators! This conference was also notable

because it was the first in the Association’s history to be held on a college campus in partnership with the university and the local education service district. We sincerely thank Gregg Gassman of Southern Oregon University (SOU) and Sandra Crews from the Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD) for helping to make continued on page 3

Dr. Almitra Berry has graced our pages with another article. This time she compares assessment to her mother’s recipe for sweet potato pie. Who doesn’t like sweet potato pie?

Dr. Kozloff ’s regular column “Martin’s Musings,” is about clear communication. He explains the importance of short, simple declarative sentences when teaching. We love his use of graduate level examples, because it drives home, for all of us, the importance of clear teaching when we are learning new information. It is very abstract for us to understand that children get confused when letter sounds aren’t presented properly, but when Dr. Kozloff presents his graduate school examples, we get the point.

We hope you will find this issue interesting, informative, or both!

FALL 2011, Volume 11, Number 3

In this issue

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Awards for Excellence at the National DI Conference

5

Stevenson Elementary Success

6

Assessment is Like Mom’s Sweet Potato Pie

7

How to Achieve Excellence in Teaching

Becker Excellent School 11 Wesley Award

13 Martin’s Musings

Direct Instruction News Editors Randi Saulter Educational Consultant Don Crawford Arthur Academies Charter Schools Portland, Oregon

Editorial Board Kerry Hempenstall Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Victoria, Australia Martin Kozloff University of North Carolina, Wilmington Vicki Snider University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

ADI Board of Directors Anne Berchtold Lee County School District Cape Coral, Florida Timothy Slocum Utah State University Logan, Utah Don Steely iLearn Eugene, Oregon Rose Wanken Chico Unified School District Chico, California Cathy Watkins California State University, Stanislaus Turlock, California The DI News is published in the fall, spring, and summer by the Association for Direct Instruction. The Association for Direct Instruction is a professional organization dedicated to the development and dissemination of information and training for users of Direct Instruction.

The Association for Direct Instruction was incorporated in 1981 in the state of Oregon for educational purposes. ADI is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code and is a publicly supported organization as defined in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and 509(a)(1). Donations are tax-deductible.

A copy or summary of the current financial statement, or annual report, and registration filed by ADI may be obtained by contacting: ADI, P.O. BOX 10252, Eugene, OR 97440 (541-485-1293). ADI is registered with the state of Oregon, Department of Justice, #79-16751. Copyright © 2011 Association for Direct Instruction.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $25 U. S.; $30 (U. S. currency) Canada; $40 Europe; $60 airmail to Europe.

(ISSN 1540-0026).

Managing Editor: Lynda Rucker Publisher: The Association for Direct Instruction http://www.adihome.org Layout and Design: Beneda Design, Eugene, Oregon

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Contribute to DI News: DI News provides practitioners, ADI members, the DI community, and those new to DI with stories of successful implementations of DI, reports of ADI awards, tips regarding the effective delivery of DI, articles focused on particular types of instruction, reprints of articles on timely topics, and position papers that address current issues. The News’ focus is to provide newsworthy events that help us reach the goals of teaching children more effectively and efficiently and communicating that a powerful technology for teaching exists but is not being utilized in most American schools. Readers are invited to contribute personal accounts of success as well as relevant topics deemed useful to the DI community. General areas of submission follow: From the field: Submit letters describing your thrills and frustrations, problems and successes, and so on. A number of experts are available who may be able to offer helpful solutions and recommendations to persons seeking advice.

News: Report news of interest to ADI’s members.

Success stories: Send your stories about successful instruction. These can be short, anecdotal pieces.

Perspectives: Submit critiques and perspective essays about a theme of current interest, such as: school restructuring, the ungraded classroom, cooperative learning, site-based management, learning styles, heterogeneous grouping, Regular Ed Initiative and the law, and so on.

Book notes: Review a book of interest to members.

New products: Descriptions of new products that are available are welcome.

Send the description with a sample of the product or a research report validating its effectiveness. Space will be given only to products that have been fieldtested and empirically validated.

Tips for teachers: Practical, short products that a teacher can copy and use immediately. This might be advice for solving a specific but pervasive problem, a data-keeping form, a single format that would successfully teach something meaningful and impress teachers with the effectiveness and cleverness of Direct Instruction.

Submission Format: Send an electronic copy with a hard copy of the manuscript. Indicate the name of the word-processing program you use. Save drawings and figures in separate files. Include an address and email address for each author.

Illustrations and Figures: Please send drawings or figures in a camera-ready form, even though you may also include them in electronic form.

Completed manuscripts should be sent to: ADI Publications P.O. Box 10252 Eugene, OR 97440 Acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript will be sent by email. Articles are initially screened by the editors for placement in the correct ADI publication. If appropriate, the article will be sent out for review by peers in the field. These reviewers may recommend acceptance as is, revision without further review, revision with a subsequent review, or rejection. The author is usually notified about the status of the article within a 6- to 8-week period. If the article is published, the author will receive five complimentary copies of the issue in which his or her article appears.

Fall 2011

ADI News... continued from page 1 this event a resounding success. We are already discussing plans for future collaborations with both organizations and are looking forward to making the Southern Oregon Conference an annual event.

When we weren’t preparing for and hosting conferences this summer, we were packing our offices and making arrangements to move. You read that correctly… ADI has a new home! After 30 years of sharing space with Engelmann-Becker (EB) and the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI), we have moved into a place of our own. Our new space is in the heart of downtown Eugene only two

blocks from the Hilton hotel where we host the National Conference. Our new offices are cheerful and spacious and will allow us to expand as we begin this new chapter.

Assistant Secretary of Education, as “…a hugely important contribution to the literature on effective teaching practices” and deserves a place on every DI supporter’s bookshelf.

Speaking of chapters, we are pleased to announce that the new book from Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann and Doug Carnine, Could John Stuart Mill Have Saved Our Schools?, is now available for purchase through the ADI store. Coauthors Engelmann and Carnine look at Mill’s 1843 publication, System of Logic, and speculate as to the impact Mill’s methods could have had on education in the early 20th century. This fascinating book has been hailed by Williamson M. Evers, Former U.S.

Engelmann and Carnine’s new book, along with many other great titles, can be purchased through our website at www.adihome.org. While you’re there, be sure to note our upcoming conferences and workshops in your area and make plans to attend. And, if you’re ever in the neighborhood, please drop by our new office at 30 E. Broadway, Ste. 150 in downtown Eugene and say hello. We wish you all a wonderful school year and thank you for your continued support of ADI.

KASE WICKMAN

Awards for Excellence at the National DI Conference The Association for Direct Instruction presented its annual Excellence in Education Awards—and one surprise award—to four deserving winners during the 37th National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes in Eugene, Oregon on July 24.

Dr. Marcy Stein was inducted into the ADI Hall of Fame; the David Douglas Arthur Academy in Portland, Oregon received the Wesley Becker Excellent School Award; Jerry Hill, a student in Buffalo, Wyoming, was granted the Wayne Carnine Student Improvement Award; and Brenda Williams was presented with the South Carolina Service Provider of the Year award at the McGraw-Hill Education/SRA social hour.

To open the night, a cake was presented to Zig Engelmann in anticipation of his 80th birthday in November.

Director of Training Bryan Wickman, who has worked with Engelmann for more than 30 years, led attendees in a round of “Happy Birthday.”

Direct Instruction News

“Beyond admiring the great works that you’ve done and being well respected, you’re also well-loved,” Wickman said.

“Happy birthday.”

Lyndsay Root, McGraw-Hill’s marketing manager, welcomed the conference attendees, and explained the new social media efforts coming soon to promote DI and support its practitioners.

“We’re out there, we’re part of this with you, and we’re bringing that community out to the web,” Root said.

Bob Dixon, who recently retired from ADI’s board of directors, emceed the evening. He spared the audience from hearing any recitations of the Essentials for Algebra: Teacher’s Guide, which he claimed was his original plan, and instead introduced the first award of the evening, the South Carolina Service Provider of the Year Award, a nonADI honor presented to a very surprised Brenda Williams.

“No one has ever been able to surprise me, ever!” Williams said when

she reached the podium. “Ever! Ask my family!”

“DI is my passion, and I have another twin, behavior is my second passion, so again, thank you so much,” Williams said.

Plan now to attend

Effective Programs for Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders— A Direct Instruction Conference October 20–22, 2011 Hilton Penn Station, Newark, New Jersey Complete brochure and registration information available at adihome.org

Southwest DI Conference December 6-8, 2011, Phoenix, Arizona

Online Registration Now Available adihome.org

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Linda Carnine presented the Wayne Carnine Student Improvement Award, named in honor of her husband Doug’s late father. The award comes with a plaque and $200 for the winning student.

Jerry Hill, a 13-year-old student at Clear Creek Middle School in Buffalo, Wyoming, was selected as the recipient of this year’s Carnine Award. Jerry started as a new student at Clear Creek in September 2010, and was repeating seventh grade after missing weeks of school because of illness every year since he had been a kindergartener. Even more concerning, Jerry was unable to read.

Bonnie Bischoff, Jerry’s teacher who nominated him for the award and accepted on his behalf, called Jerry “one of those kids that all of us have had the privilege of teaching.”

She explained that when Jerry took the placement test for reading, he

The schools and organizations listed below are institutional members of the Association for Direct Instruction.

We appreciate their continued support of quality education for students.

“I just stopped him and I said, ‘It’s not your fault that you can’t read. I’m going to teach you how to read, Jerry!’” Bischoff said. “He looks at me with those big hazel eyes and those big ears and goes—he doesn’t talk much—‘okay.’”

Jerry progressed all the way through Decoding A, and by the end of the school year was at Lesson 25 of Decoding B2, and his test scores in reading went from below the first percentile in the fall to the 26th percentile in the spring.

“He said, ‘I ain’t never had nobody teach me like this,’” Bischoff said.

“And that’s the epitome of Direct Instruction. No one gives attention to those kids like Direct Instruction…he had the taste of success.”

David Douglas Arthur Academy was selected for the 2011 Wesley Becker Excellent School Award. Don Crawford, executive director of the Arthur Academies, explained that the set of six charter schools in Portland that DDAA is part of is “all DI, every day, all year long. It’s a wonderful place to be; it’s like I’m at home.”

Chuck Arthur, the Academy founder, also spoke about the schools, which have expanded from two classrooms in 2002 to the six full schools functioning today, which all score very high on achievement tests.

DDAA itself was named Oregon Charter School of the year and received an “outstanding” rating on the Oregon School Report Card, in addition to the honors at the DI conference this year.

One hundred percent of third- and fourth-graders at DDAA passed the state’s reading tests, and over 97 percent of the students school-wide passed the tests as well.

Criterion Child Enrichment Milford, MA

Morningside Academy Seattle, WA

David Douglas Arthur Academy Portland, OR

Mountain View Academy Greeley, CO

Alliance Academy of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH

Dreamcatcher Direct Instruction Centers Berthoud, CO

Mystic Valley Regional Charter Everett, MA

American Horse School Allen, SD

Educational Resources Inc. Ocala, FL

American Preparatory Academy Draper, UT

Evergreen Center Milford, MA

Baltimore Curriculum Project Inc. Baltimore, MD

Exceptional Learning Centre Ajax, Ontario

Beacon Services Milford, MA

Foundations for the Future Charter Academy Calgary, AB

Bear River Charter School Logan, UT Centennial Public School Utica, NE City Springs School Baltimore, MD Clarendon School District District Two Manning, SC

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was performing so poorly that she stopped him.

Gering Public Schools Gering, NE Gresham Arthur Academy Gresham, OR Hinckley - Finlayson Sch Dist Hinckley, MN Mescalero Apache School Mescalero, NM

NIFDI Eugene, OR Portland Arthur Academy Portland, OR Reynolds Arthur Academy Troutdale, OR Santee Community School Niobrara, NE St. Helens Arthur Academy St. Helens, OR USD #428 Great Bend, KS Wasilla Middle School Wasilla, AK Woodburn Arthur Academy Woodburn, OR

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Principal Stephani Brown was the last to speak for DDAA. She started as a teacher when she was 23 years old.

“When I first started teaching, I didn’t know anything about Direct Instruction,” she said. “The first time I saw it, I was hooked.”

Since then, she has risen to lead the school, informing and inspiring staff through professional development and camaraderie, as well as boosting students’ achievements. The school’s success, she said, was “due in combination to great curriculum, great teachers, great leadership, and a lot of support.”

Doug Carnine presented the final honor of the night, the DI Hall of Fame induction. Marcy Stein was chosen as the 2011 inductee for her decades of work and achievement in Direct Instruction. Carnine said that Stein had begun her teaching career as his assistant at a DI math course at the University of Oregon.

“She did a great job, she was enthusiastic, she learned quickly, and she

talked even faster than that,” Carnine said. “What is inspiring about Marcy is how she has channeled her intelligence and her enthusiasm since that time 35 years ago.”

Stein has crisscrossed the country, as a founding member of the education faculty at the University of WashingtonTacoma and the overall founder of the special education master’s degree at the same school, and as a DI coach and trainer who helps to implement the curriculum. She also took special interest in individual children, such as the coworker’s son who began as a nonreader in fourth grade, and under Marcy’s care, was reading at the sixth grade level after six months, and is now a college graduate and voracious reader.

Carnine likened Stein’s attitude to a quote by Amelia Earhart: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act.

The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”

“Marcy has a tenacity and a patience and a passion for doing things that are

in the best interests of children,” Carnine said. “That really is the foundation of her leadership.”

Stein joked in her short speech of thanks that she had explained the Hall of Fame award to a non-DI friend as a sort of lifetime achievement award.

“I get the lifetime, I’ve got that down, and I’m not sure about the achievement part,” she joked.

She remembered hearing a behaviorist explain that many teachers have low expectations for students because they’ve never seen breakthrough success in a child.

“If you’ve never seen it, you may not believe that it actually can happen,” she said. “I got to see it firsthand at a very young age, and that’s what fuels the passion: when you know what can happen and you’ve seen it demonstrated over and over and over again…I’m grateful that I know it can be done and I’m grateful that after all these years, I still get to feel that passion and try and communicate it to my students. Thanks.”

WILLIAM MITCHELL, Educational Resources, Inc.

R.E. Stevenson Elementary Success Story Since August of 1969, R.E. Stevenson Elementary has been serving the city of Russellville in Logan County, which is located in south central Kentucky.

Stevenson Elementary is a kindergarten through sixth grade school with a population of 602 students. As one of the two rural schools in the Russellville City School System, Stevenson proudly models its newly renovated school campus. Staff members are proud of its increasing enrollment.

Stevenson Elementary is a Title I school with approximately 78% of its student body receiving free and Direct Instruction News

reduced lunch. In the past year Stevenson has added three additional teachers to meet the growing population of students.

The mission of Stevenson Elementary School is to build a foundation for lifelong learning. Members of the teaching staff believe that learning to read is a stepping stone toward ensuring that students are successful as twentyfirst century learners. Teachers’ primary objective is to help students learn to read with the goal of becoming proficient in reading. The Steven-

son Direct Instruction reading program was designed to help all children at Stevenson read at or above grade level by the time they exit the primary program. Stevenson Elementary staff has proudly partnered with Educational Resources, Inc. for the past four years to implement this program.

Since adopting Reading Mastery as the school’s reading program, students, parents and teachers have witnessed tremendous reading proficiency growth at SES. The breakdown of specific reading components has proven to be a key element in developing fluency, decoding, and comprehension. In keeping with the focus on reading, the SES staff has expanded the reading block from 90 minutes a day to 120 minutes of instruction in all primary classrooms daily. Additionally, a highly qualified full-time reading interven5

tionist has been employed to work with teachers, students and parents.

Stevenson Elementary is committed to

recording, analyzing, and altering individual student instruction by using the learning progression protocol of the

Table 1

Stevenson MAP Scores – Normal Growth vs. SES Growth 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

18.5

17.7 16.4

11.3

Normal Growth

11 9.2

8.7

SES Growth

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Grades K, 1, 2, and 3

Direct Instruction program. Teachers are trained using side-by-side coaching with the assistance of a consultant from Educational Resources, Inc. The coaching component has proven to be critical in teaching and maintaining the program’s high degree of program implementation. Dibels, PAST, and MAP (Measurable Academic Progress) assessments are implemented three times during the year as a formative assessment tool to alter classroom instruction and determine tiers of students that require extensions in learning strategies. Stevenson Elementary School staff is proud of the high degree of success in assisting students to achieve to their maximum potential in reading as a result of the Reading Mastery focus.

ALMITRA L. BERRY, Ed.D.

Assessment is Like Mom’s Sweet Potato Pie I remember hovering around the kitchen as a child waiting for the opportunity to taste test the sweet potato pie filling. In our house, those pies were only made during the holidays, and my mom still holds the family bragging rights to the best pies on Earth. As a teenager, I asked my mother for the recipe, but she said she didn’t have one. As an adult, certain she was simply trying to keep to herself some secret ingredient that made her pies better than any others I had ever tasted, I asked again. I got the same response, but she told me what went into them and what she looked for. I simply knew how they tasted at varying stages and what the best filling tasted like right before being poured into the crust.

Screening devices and assessment— formative and summative—are much like the secret recipe to Mom’s sweet potato pie. It all begins in the grocery store. When selecting the proper yams (yes, yams, not sweet potatoes) you have to screen carefully using the right 6

device. The screening isn’t going to tell you exactly how the pie is going to come out, but proper screening does give you some clue as to which potatoes are riskier than others, which are not quite ready for pie-making and which might be. In the classroom, screening devices properly employed indicate a level of risk for a learner.

While screening devices don’t tell you which students will succeed and which will not, they do give you an idea of which learners may need a little extra work in order to make the necessary gains in instruction.

Once all the ingredients to Mom’s sweet potato pies were in the mixer, I got to taste. This formative assessment resulted in feedback. Too much sugar or not enough? More milk? More time in the mixer? Adjustments were made and then another formative assessment, or taste test, occurred.

Connoisseur of sweet potato pie filling as I am, this could go on for quite some time. In instruction, our formative assessments are used to deter-

mine whether or not the learner is benefitting from the instruction that is given. When we find that adjustments need to be made in terms of time, duration, or intensity of instruction or intervention, the adjustments must be made immediately. The data that comes from a formative assessment in the classroom must be acted upon just like the pie filling taste test: immediately if not sooner! Failing to make the adjustments may result in a pie that is missing the right amounts of critical ingredients. With a struggling learner who is, say, learning to read, failure to make the adjustments in instruction may yield a child who is lacking phonemic awareness, fluency, or some other critical skill.

Unlike other forms of formative assessment, summative assessment occurs too late to make an immediate adjustment. Once the pie is in the oven, the ultimate assessment is underway. No more tinkering or adjusting; once the pie is baked and served, judgment is made. While many may complain about high stakes testing, their purpose is clear. How can we possibly determine whether or not instruction worked without a final summary judgment? The critical response to summaFall 2011

tive assessment is making the necessary adjustments for the next term of instruction.

In the case of the sweet potato pie, Mom was able to make adjustments to future screening processes: “I’ll never buy potatoes from Supermarket X again!” In education we do not have the luxury of rejecting the children that come to our store of learning. We can, however, look at the data from our screening measures along with the summative assessment and determine whether or not we made proper choices about curriculum, instruction, and intervention. The data we receive from screening and all formative and summative assessment should serve as indicators of the validity of instruction for the students in our school or classroom. If the summative assess-

ment does not yield good data, could it be that we failed to respond appropriately to the indicators during formative assessments? Perhaps we needed to add more spice, less sugar, or just blend the ingredients a little longer and/or at higher speed. Maybe the potatoes were undercooked and we assumed it would be okay to begin combining ingredients too soon.

Could it be we used the wrong kind of milk? In the case of the early learner, perhaps we moved to wholeword recognition before the child had mastered sound-by-sound blending.

Could it be we used the wrong curriculum or method?

Children are not sweet potato pies.

There’s too much at stake for failing to use assessments and the data they yield about student learning. If I make a less

than stellar batch of pies, they’ll still get eaten. I can shrug off my epicurean shortcomings, but there is no do-over for a child who does not learn to read because we have not taught him.

Direct Instruction programs take the guesswork out of instruction because they are research-validated. When taught with skill and fidelity, when students work to mastery level, when assessment data is acted upon correctly, the outcomes are predetermined. Students will be successful learners and skilled readers, writers, and mathematicians. You can’t say that about teacher-developed curriculum.

Methods that allow teachers to tinker and be creative are much like Mom’s sweet potato pies: outstanding when done by a master, but impossible to replicate with any consistency.

DON CRAWFORD, Portland Arthur Academy and RANDI SAULTER, DI Consultant

How to achieve excellence in teaching: A self-evaluation action plan teachers get lucky and get a smart class whose test scores make them look good. We have seen the reverse as well: excellent, hard-working, effective teachers get a class full of low performers whose test scores make the teacher look bad.

Who wants to be a mediocre teacher?

If you just raised your hand, you are done reading. Nobody does, but how does one become excellent? Typically, teachers attend workshops and other forms of professional development.

But are all ideas, workshops, materials equally good for improving teaching skills? Moreover, are most of them even good for children? Definitely not!

Why don’t most teachers become excellent? Arguably, it is because they don’t have a systematic way of evaluating themselves to be certain that they are moving in the right direction.

In approaching improvement systematically there are several things that must be done continuously. That means over and over without getting distracted by shiny objects or slick salespeople who claim to be able to change things without the components shown in figure 1 on page 8.

The same information that we use to make schools excellent can be applied by individual teachers to themselves.

Excellence in teaching can be learned and developed. There are two things to be done. First, we must approach improvement systematically. Second, we must base our improvement efforts on data from the classroom, not simply test scores. We have all seen poor

We begin by choosing where to focus our efforts, based on student needs evident in our classroom. (Don’t bother selecting things to implement without regard to what is needed!

That is the problem with attending random professional development sessions. If the information being covered is NOT oriented toward our specific goal it is less than helpful—like not at

Direct Instruction News

all helpful.) Then we have to measure our starting point. We then hunt for some research-based ideas that can help address the needs that have been identified. Next, we need to make a plan to change some things in our classroom. Thoughtfulness is important. It is not useful to just dive in without some amount of planning.

Typically teaching behavior has to change. This is scary! Realizing that one’s own behavior (Read as: “What you, the teacher, is doing”) has to change (Read as: “Improve”). It is not about the “stuff ” (worksheets, posters, cool pencil grips from the teacher store, etc.). Things like teaching habits, more work, or better organization are what we are talking about here. These are the biggies, people! As changes happen, we need to measure again to see if there is improvement.

Does a systematic approach sound like it might be effective in helping a teacher improve student outcomes?

Choosing where to focus. The aim should be something that matters to student achievement. Choose the most important factors first. Choose things that can be measured. Finally, 7

choose the factors that research shows make a difference. We got into this profession to make a difference!

Below are six key areas of teaching which could require improvement.

They are listed in their approximate order of importance: Student engagement Student mastery Assessment skills Efficiency in instruction Student motivation Academic challenge or rigor Let’s walk through each of these areas and how to assess if each is an area of need.

Student engagement. Undoubtedly, the first goal that has to be achieved by teachers is to make sure the students are engaged—or paying attention to the lesson. If the students are not engaged, they are not going to learn. Therefore, if students are offtask, to improve their achievement first one must improve student

engagement. How do you know if this is an area of need? Are over 90% of students engaged at all times? An easier way to answer that question is to ask whether, at one time, are no more than two or three students off task?

(That’s 90% on task in a typical classroom.) If a teacher can answer yes, then he/she can move on to the next area. If the answer is no (there are more than two or three off task), then engagement must be the first area of focus.

Student Mastery. Next the teacher needs to figure out if he/she needs to improve mastery. There is little point in teaching if we do not bring students to mastery in the material. What is reasonable to expect in terms of student mastery? In utilizing Direct Instruction (DI) materials, we know that all correctly placed students ought to be able to achieve mastery. On any given lesson or test, however, some will be having an “off ” day and might not be at mastery. So a fair expectation is that at least ¾ of the students are meeting mastery goals on any test or work assignment. What are the mastery goals in DI curriculums? Students should pass each checkout in reading,

Figure 1

Striving for Excellence Choose a focus (new or re-do) based on need

Measure the results

Change some teaching behaviors

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Measure starting point

Find researchbased ideas that can help

they should earn over 90% on each mastery test, and they should earn over 85% on independent work. If DI curriculum materials are not being utilized, it is much more difficult to achieve mastery. Commonly, people expect that 80% is mastery in non-DI curricula. If ¾ of the students are at mastery consistently then there is no need to focus on improvement efforts on mastery—it’s not an area of need.

On the other hand, if less than ¾ of a class is at mastery, then that is the first and most important area on which to focus self-improvement efforts. We would refer you to a 2008 article, “Remedies for Fixing Problems with Mastery—Without Sacrificing Lesson Progress” in the Direct Instruction News, Volume 8, Issue 3.

Assessment skills. If mastery is generally OK (most of the time at least 75% of the students are at mastery), then does the teacher need to improve so that 100% of the students achieve mastery? To achieve 100% mastery a teacher may need to develop his/her assessment skills. To achieve mastery with all of the students, a teacher needs to be able to zero in on students and objectives that need more work.

The teacher needs to be able to ferret out any issues that the students have with learning the material. The teacher should ask him/herself these questions: Do I have concrete and specific knowledge of each student’s achievement? Am I fully aware of individual student achievement levels and skill deficits? Am I able to analyze all tests to find areas of class-wide weaknesses vs. individual weaknesses? Am I able to identify “can’t” problems from “won’t” problems in tests? Can I tell what kind of remediation is needed when analyzing assessments? Can I distinguish fact, component, and strategy errors in math? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions then the next most important area on which the teacher should focus is developing more and/or better skills in assessment—learning how to give and analyze assessments. This in turn will enable the teacher to fix mastery problems with all of the students, even the ones that need extra instruction.

Fall 2011

Efficiency in Instruction. If mastery and assessment are OK, does the teacher need to improve efficiency in instruction? Outside of DI few people ask themselves this question—because they have no way to self-evaluate. One of the most important innovations in DI is that lessons are carefully constructed to be relatively equal in length and completed in one instructional period. In this way, by using DI materials and teaching pedagogy we can evaluate our efficiency in instruction by asking ourselves, “Am I completing a lesson a day (assuming enough time*) on most days?” See Table 1 for the time needed in the daily schedule for DI lessons.

The other important question a teacher can ask is, “Am I on track to complete the level by the end of the year?” If this is accomplished in DI programs, with mastery, then students will progress a year for each year in school. Sometimes we have a more ambitious goal—such as catching students up by doing a level and a half in one year. Whatever our goals are, to self-evaluate we write down our goals and check our progress against them early in the school year. If we aren’t making the progress we want or expect, then we need to work on improving our efficiency of instruction.

We would refer you to a 2009 article, “Remedies for Fixing Problems with Lesson Progress—Without Sacrificing Mastery” in the Direct Instruction News, Volume 9, Issue 1, p. 15-17.

Student motivation. So a teacher’s students are engaged, mastering material, making a year’s progress each year, and that teacher knows how to assess to find any problems. What more can be done? The next area to look for improvement is the area of motivation.

Does the teacher need to improve student motivation? Ask these questions: • Are students participating enthusiastically in academic lessons?

• Are students proud of specific academic accomplishments in class?

• Are students completing all assignments?

• Are students interested in and aware of their grades and how well they are learning?

• Is the class academically rigorous?

(Do students have to work at it to succeed?)

• Do students feel some pressure to perform at their best?

If all of these things are strong, then the teacher has great student motivation. If not, then this might be a good area of focus. In our experience, few teachers are doing the best job possible in motivating their students. The difference a teacher can make in student learning by motivating students to strive for achievement goals is huge. In places without structured DI curricula, this variable turns out to be just about the only thing teachers can use to improve achievement. Teachers may not have the tools to easily reach mastery, but they can motivate the heck out of their students. How to motivate students is a whole other article (or a six hour workshop if we can get teachers in one spot long enough). We would refer you to a 2007 article, “Fixing Motivation Problems” in the Direct Instruction News, Volume 7, Issue 3, p. 22-31.

Academic challenge or rigor. Once a teacher knows he/she has students highly motivated, what more can be done? He/she can work to systematically increase the challenge or academic rigor in the class. How would a teacher decide if there was a need to increase the challenge in a class? Ask the following questions:

• Are students aware of excellence goals that they are striving towards?

• Can one see evidence of students studying and making an effort to learn?

• Do all students recognize a need to be engaged—including top students?

These are lofty goals, but they are the ones to focus on when all the rest have been achieved. This is particularly true in classrooms with students who learn easily. They will find grade level DI to be quite easy and the teacher has an obligation to find ways to increase the challenge in the classroom.

Progress not perfection. The teacher’s goal is to make progress in these areas, rather than to expect to be perfect. One begins by finding out where he/she is at the start—by doing a rigorous self-evaluation. Then set a goal to improve the student outcome data. Learn what research says will make a difference in that variable.

Make the change in teaching behavior and then collect rigorous, honest data for a post evaluation. Don’t expect perfection. Improvement is good—especially when it is not an accident.

Table 1

Daily schedule for DI Lessons Subject

Time Needed *

Reading Mastery

75-90 minutes (30 / group)

Language/Writing

50-60 minutes

Spelling Mastery

15 (in Rdg kit) 30 SplMstry

Math Facts

10 minutes

CMC

50-60 minutes

• Are students able to articulate academic achievement goals they have?

Direct Instruction News

9

Collecting data and/or getting observed. Once an area is chosen the teacher will need some baseline data to see where he/she is starting. In many full DI implementations, data is already being collected on a weekly basis (number of students at mastery for each test or checkout, lesson progress each week and over the course of the year, assessment analyses of tests that break out by objectives) that will tell how one is doing. When other areas are examined, such as engagement, motivation and challenge, a teacher may need someone to observe in the classroom and interview students—to see how things are going.

Measuring engagement. Someone may need to observe in a room to help a teacher measure the rate of student engagement. The observer should observe a different student every 15 seconds—from the front of the room, so they can see faces. The observer watches that student for a few seconds and codes each student as + for engaged in the lesson (on task) or – for not engaged (off task). Someone could video (15 seconds per student), then a teacher could code it him/herself. The observer should go around the room a couple of times getting video or rating each student. The rate of engagement is a percentage: the number of plus marks over the total number of observations. An observer

would have to walk around and look at student’s work to check engagement rate during independent work. It may look like everyone is engaged, but students must be observed to see what they are doing to be sure. A decent engagement rate is 90%, but 100% is feasible in DI classrooms. Whatever a teacher’s rate is, he/she can work on improving it if he/she is not happy with it.

Measuring motivation. To measure the level of motivation in a room one will need to have someone observe and interview. Engagement is part of motivation, so that should be checked as well. The rest is simply added to the engagement observation. The observer should look for enthusiastic participation as well as high levels of engagement. The more evidence the observer can find of student enthusiasm, the more motivated are the students. You will also need to have someone interview students—or the teacher can do it. Ask the following questions of students: • What work are you proud of?

• How well are you doing in this class?

• How can you tell if you’re doing well?

• Do you have any goals you wish to accomplish?

• What motivates you in this class?

If students clearly have goals and are motivated, then this area is strong.

Conversely, if students are unable to say what they are doing well, or what they want to do, or what are their goals, then motivation is clearly an area that could use improvement.

Measuring challenge. Students must be engaged and motivated in order for a teacher to be able to increase the level of challenge in the classroom.

The observation for challenge would include the observation and interview for engagement and motivation. The observer would have to look for enthusiastic participation as well as pride in accomplishment. The observer should walk around to see how carefully and accurately students are doing independent work. Students would also need to be interviewed. In addition to the motivation questions above, the following are good questions to gauge the level of challenge in the room.

• Do you study for any tests in this class?

• What have you done to do better in this class?

• What are you most proud of?

• What goals do you have for yourself?

• What have you done that really took effort?

Now available from ADI

Could John Stuart Mill Have Saved Our Schools?

Siegfried Engelmann & Douglas Carnine This book is a fascinating read, with many examples and interesting historical asides. It postulates an instructional methodology that could have been ours a century ago had Mill included education as a science and not an art. More importantly, it shows that if today's educators adopt instruction that is consistent with Mill's methods, education could still become a science resulting in our schools improving dramatically.

Cost: $25.00 list $20.00 member price

10

To order: Toll Free: 1-800-995-2464 Fax: 1-541-868-1397 Online: www.adihome.org

Fall 2011

• Do you have to work hard in this class?

If there is a good academic challenge in the classroom, students will be able to answer these questions with specifics. If they draw a blank when you ask these questions—not so much.

To review, there are six key areas of teaching in which to improve—if one wishes to increase student achievement. The first is engagement. Students have to be listening and engaged in order to learn with an engagement rate of at least 90%. The second is

general mastery, where ¾ of the class is passing or testing above 90%. Students need to master the material to benefit from the instruction. The third area is assessment skills in order to find out how to help the students who are in the bottom ¼ of the class. The fourth area is efficiency—the ability to use time wisely in the classroom so as to make a year’s progress every year.

The fifth area is motivation, whether or not a teacher is getting the best out of his/her students. The final area is academic challenge and rigor. If everything else is in place, then a teacher

will want to learn how to push students to achieve more.

Pat Riley, who won seven NBA championships and knows something about the subject, said this about excellence, “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” If we all strive to do better, we’ll get better and better and become consistently excellent. Our students will learn more and be better prepared for life. Our classrooms will be more successful and joyful! Our school outcomes will get better. Sound like a good plan?

JONATHAN LUEBKE, David Douglas Arthur Academy

Wesley Becker Excellent School Award Arthur Academy’s mission statement says it all: “Every single student, regardless of ethnicity, parental income, learning difference, culture, or native language, will become a fluent reader and will master the academic and intellectual skills necessary to succeed at the next level of schooling.”

Thanks to Direct Instruction Curriculum, the David Douglas Arthur Academy (DDAA) achieves that mission statement and more.

DDAA has a stellar staff that continually strives to be the best they can be. The staff at DDAA is a very cohesive group that works together for the betterment of their students. The staff truly works as a team. Staff development, weekly collaboration meetings, and unrivaled cooperation assist the teachers in being more effective in the classroom. Teach-

Table 1

Table 2

3rd Grade Math Oregon Assessment of Knowledge System

3rd Grade Reading Oregon Assessment of Knowledge System

100

100

90

90

80

80 Percent

Percent

DDAA has exceeded expectations of

what it means to be a successful school. The school has scored very high on achievement tests and much higher than any district run schools and state schools (see attached graphs). One hundred percent of the third and fourth graders passed the state reading tests with over 97% of students school-wide passing. DDAA third, fourth, and fifth graders outperformed the rest of the state by 13% or more on the state reading test and 16% higher in math. Direct Instruction

has been the key to the continued success of DDAA; the programs are well organized and teach the students the skills needed to read at grade level or, in many cases, significantly above grade level.

70

70

60

60

50

50

40

40 2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2008-2009

Year State

Direct Instruction News

District

2009-2010

2010-2011

Year DDAA

State

District

DDAA

11

tigious award, one of DDAA’s very own teachers, Shawn LaPointe, was recognized as the Oregon Charter School Teacher of the Year. His students love coming to school and are always highly engaged in their academics.

This past year DDAA was selected as the Oregon Charter School of the Year by the Northwest Center for Educational Options. “This award speaks to the hard work that our students and staff have put in to strive for educational excellence,” said principal Stephani Brown. Along with this pres-

This past fall, DDAA received an overall rating of “Outstanding” on the twelfth annual Oregon School Report Card. Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo said in her letter to DDAA, “Receiving this rating is a testament to the incredible commitment and hard work of your school

community. You have shown what is possible when teachers, administrators, classified staff, students, parents, and the community partners work together toward a common goal and share the belief that all students can achieve at high levels.”

The school is being recognized around the district and now the state.

Achievement test scores have steadily improved and the Direct Instruction curriculum has been an integral part of the school’s success.

Table 3

Table 4

4th Grade Math Oregon Assessment of Knowledge System

4th Grade Reading Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Percents

100

100

90

90

80

80 Percent

Percent

ers continually strive to find new ways to motivate their students to be the best they can be. Parent volunteers are very active and support the staff in many ways, from parking lot attendants to lunch room helpers.

70

70

60

60

50

50

40

40 2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2008-2009

2009-2010

Year District

Year State

DDAA

DDAA

Table 6

5th Grade Math Oregon Assessment of Knowledge System

5th Grade Reading Oregon Assessment of Knowledge System

100

100

90

90

80

80

70

70

60

60

50

50 40

40 2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2008-2009

State

District

2009-2010

2010-2011

Year

Year

12

District

Table 5

Percent

Percent

State

2010-2011

DDAA

State

District

DDAA

Fall 2011

MARTIN KOZLOFF, University of North Carolina Here’s a brilliant way to see it. Okay, not so brilliant, but pretty clever.

Accurate Comprehension and Communication Accurate comprehension and communication is THE most important thing to learn—if you want to be a great teacher. Former students will say…

“She made me smart!”

“He taught me more than any other teacher!”

“She communicated so clearly!”

But, if you are fine spending your life as a mediocre teacher, then don’t tackle this document—even though I worked my fingers to the bone writing it for YOU. No, do something else. Make new “friends” on facebook.

“Please, be my friend. Heathcliff! I’m so lonely. So very lonely. All I have is this tiny piece of Kleenex to keep me company.”

Pathetic.

Yet strangely amusing…

Okay, I can see you’re still here.

Good.

and a predicate (the part that tells more about the subject).

Here are examples of simple declarative statements.

It (subject: what the statement is about) is cold (predicate tells more about the subject).

I (subject: what the statement is about) rule the night (predicate tells more about the subject).

In the beginning of G-d’s creating the heavens and the earth (subject: what the statement is about), the earth was without form, and void (predicate tells more about the subject).

Note: The subject is not G-d. Read the sentence again.

The statement is about the period of the beginning of G-d’s CREATING the heavens and the earth. That is the subject. That predicate tells more about the PERIOD. It would be terrific if human beings thought, spoke, and wrote in simple declarative statements—except for poetry and plays and such, where we’re not shooting for simplicity.

Here are two rules.

First rule. To figure out what talk or text says (how it represents reality), translate long, complex, wordy, and confusing sentences into simple declarative statements.

“What’s a simple declarative statement?”

I’m THRILLED that you asked.

A simple declarative statement (I said statement, not sentence) has a subject (what the statement is about) Direct Instruction News

But sadly, the stark reality reminds us that Human beings are blabber mouths.

We stuff our speaking and writing with useless flap and doodle, piffle, and bilge.

The result? Students mutter, “Oh, my G-d! What is he talking about?!”

Second rule. To communicate knowledge (representations of reality) effectively (students get it) and efficiently (they get it easily), speak and write in simple declarative statements.

Signal and Noise Clear communication of knowledge (instruction) boils down to this: mostly signal, very little noise.

The signal is the information or knowledge (about reality) that is supposed to be communicated by a painting, poem, declaration, sculpture, dance, symphony, lesson in math or reading, description, explanation, or argument by a prosecuting attorney in a trial.

The noise is everything that 1. Hides the signal. “Blah blah blah yadda yadda The Constitution was blah blah in 17 yadda yadda…” The Constitution what?!

2. Distracts you away from the signal.

“This letter [f] makes the sound…ffff.” [But Teacher is not pointing directly at the letter, and so students are looking at something else when the teacher says ffff.]

3. Gives the signal more than one possible meaning (makes the signal ambiguous) so that you aren’t sure WHAT the information is.

Teacher: “This letter is ay (a). It says ahhh.”

Kids: “Now I’m all confused.

What’s the name? ay? ahh?

Correction The previous three issues of the Direct Instruction News were printed with the wrong Volume and Number. The Fall 2010 issue is Volume 10, No. 3. The Spring 2011 issue is Volume 11, No. 1.

The Summer 2011 issue is Volume 11, No. 2.

13

What’s it say? ay? ahh? Geez, lady, make up your mind. I’m a little kid!”

4. Doesn’t signal (signify, point to, mean) anything.

Learning is a constitutive but iterative process of inquiry-based discovery that adjusts cognitive

structures in relation to the pragmatics of action.” (I. M. A. Doodlehead, 2009, Journal of Advanced Nonsense) Compare paragraph 2 of the Declaration of Independence, on the left, with a passage from a journal article, on the right.

In order to communicate clearly, do the following.

1. Communicate so that it’s easy for students to discern the message—the knowledge statements (SIGNAL)—embedded in talk and text (NOISE). They must filter out the noise (extra

Table 1

Signal and Noise We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. [Thomas Jefferson.

First author. Paragraph 2. Declaration of Independence. July, 1776. ] Jefferson arranged statements in a logical sequence. Each statement communicates a rule about human beings.

The first statement (rule) is very general—about human nature. The last statement justifies revolution. It follows logically from the earlier statements. Is there any question what Jefferson is saying? NO.

With the reframing of poverty as a cultural problem and, in turn, antipoverty reformers' redeployment of the language used by cultural groups (e.g., groups formed from ethnic, religious, and gender affiliations) in their struggles for recognition, the goal of restructuring the political economy in the name of social justice has been displaced if not rendered unintelligibleor terroristic-in our advanced capitalist society. Nevertheless, although talk of wealth redistribution has all but disappeared from the U.S. stage, the discourse of distribution is far from dead. As Young (1990) points out, common sense (Gramsci, 1971) notions of social justice in the United States frequently revolve around a distributive frame-work that masks critical institutional analyses of domination and oppression. This dominant distributive paradigm “defines social justice as the morally proper distribution of social benefits and burdens among society's members” (p. 16). These benefits include material resources, such as income, but also nonmaterial social goods, such as rights and self-respect. When employed in social justice discussions, the dis-tributive paradigm frequently fails to examine social structures and institutional contexts, such as the division of labor and the organization of decision-making bodies. It also frames rights, including social respect, as possessions rather than relationships…

(More than Words? Delving into the Substantive Meaning(s) of "Social Justice" in Education Author(s): Connie E. North Source: Review of Educational Research, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Winter, 2006), pp. 507-535 Published by: American Educational Research Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4124413 Accessed: 03/08/2010 00:42 The sentences are complex; one thought is imbedded in another. It’s hard to tell what the author is saying. What are the subjects? What is the author telling about the subjects? What is the argument? Is there a conclusion?

Is there some point we are supposed to get?

Note that when you don’t use the right words, and don’t arrange words into a series of simple declarative statements, you don’t communicate anything. And then everyone will get bored and stop trying to learn.

14

Fall 2011

words, unclear words) and hear/see the signal.

2. Communicate so that the message is clear in what it says.

How to do this? Easy.

1. All clear cognitive knowledge (thinking—talking in your head— and communicating) is in the form of simple declarative statements. Declarative statements state a subject (what the statement is about), and then state a predicate (TELLS something about that subject).

“The United States (subject: a thing that is particular) is in the Northern Hemisphere (predicate: tells about the subject).”

FACT knowledge communicated with a simple declarative statement.

“The five classes of fungi (subject) are Basidiomycete, Ascomycetes, Glomeromycetes, Zygomycetes, and Chytridomyetes (predicate: tells a list of things about the subject).” LIST knowledge communicated with a simple declarative statement.

“Basidiomycetes (subject: a whole class/concept, not a subject that is a particular thing) is a class of fungi (the larger class of genus in which Basidiomycetes is located) that produces spores that are formed outside a pedestal-like structure, the basidium (the difference between Basidiomycetes and other things in the class of fungi) (genus and difference are both part of the predicate).” http://www.basidiomycetes.org CONCEPT knowledge (in this case, a verbal definition) communicated with a simple declarative statement divided into subject and a predicate that tells two things about the subject—genus, then difference. More on genus and difference in a minute.

“Cryptococcus neoformans (subject: a whole class/concept, Direct Instruction News

not a subject that is a particular thing) is a Basidiomycetes fungus that is toxic (predicate: tells that the subject is IN a larger class).” RULE knowledge communicated with a simple declarative statement.

“To sound out a word (subject: an action that has an objective) look at the letter on the far left; say the sound of that letter; move your eyes to the next letter to the right and keep saying the sound; now say the next sound; continue until there are no more letters (predicate: tells more about the subject).” ROUTINE knowledge communicated with a simple declarative statement.

Notice that different forms of knowledge—facts, lists, concepts, rules, and routines—can all be communicated the same way— with simple declarative statements of subject and predicate.

In other words, you can communicate ANYthing with simple declarative statements.

Or, you can sound like a moron.

Sidebar: More on definitions by stating the subject (the CLASS to be defined), and then the predicate consisting of genus and difference.

In the case of definitions of higher order concepts (justice,

fungus, government, slope of line, chemical bond, family), the predicate tells two things: first it tells the genus or larger class in which the subject concept is located; then it tells more about the subject class to show how it is different from other classes in the genus.

So, verbal definitions of higherorder (abstract) concepts should be in the form of simple declarative statements like this. Subject (class/concept to be defined) is in a larger class (genus part of the predicate) and it has the following features (difference part of the predicate). For example, “A kingdom (subject concept— a whole class of things—to be defined) is a state (genus: the larger class in which the class of kingdoms is located) governed by one person for the common good” (the difference between kingdoms and other classes of states, such as aristocracies and dictatorships). [From Aristotle. Politics.]

Substantive corruption (subject concept—a whole class of things—to be defined) is a political process (genus: the larger class in which the class of substantive corruption is located) in which the political establishment agrees among itself to expand its influence and extract resources from the system for its own gain using

Figure 1

Rule Knowledge The class of Basidiomycetes fungus that is toxic Cryptococcus neoformans Toadstools Ustilago maydis or corn smut

15

illegitimate means (the difference between substantive corruption and other things in the class of political processes).

[Adapted from http://www. eternityroad.info/index.php/ weblog/single/the_coming_crises/ posted Saturday, June 19, 2010] Compare the above with this one, below. Notice how the difference portion of the predicate helps you to see the difference between substantive corruption and procedural corruption.

Procedural corruption (subject concept—a whole class of things—to be defined) is a political process (genus: the larger class in which the class of procedural corruption is located) in which the political establishment—faced with a loss of power—becomes more authoritarian, and discards the fundamental rules of the system in order to maintain the flow of power and resources (the difference between procedural corruption and other things—such as substantive corruption—in the class of political processes).

[Adapted from http://www.eternityroad.info/index.php/weblog/si ngle/the_coming_crises/ posted Saturday, June 19, 2010] 2. As said, all clear cognitive knowledge (thinking—talking in your head—and communicating) is in the form of simple declarative statements. However, writing and speaking (ways to communicate knowledge that represents reality) may NOT be IN simple, easy to grasp declarative form. So, you and your students need to rearrange speech and text into simple, easy to grasp declarative statements. Subject then predicate.

“One thing only she had.” (not a simple declarative statement).

Fix it. “She had only one thing.” (simple declarative statement) 16

“Rights from God are given.” (not a simple declarative statement). Fix it. “Rights are given from God.” (simple declarative statement) “The singularity. What a world changing event that will be.” (not a simple declarative statement) Fix it. “The singularity will be a world changing event.” (simple declarative statement) “How many Middle East states are likely to fall to radical Islam?

Six.” (not a simple declarative statement) “Six Middle East states are likely to fall to radical Islam.” (simple declarative statement) You may think that turning the above sentences into simple declarative statements is no big deal. Well, it’s a REAL big deal! Here’s the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Some people think this amendment is about the militia.

“A well-regulated militia (subject) is necessary to the security of a free state (predicate).”

No. NO. NO! The subject is NOT the militia.

YOU can see that the subject is THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. And the predicate is SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. The part about the militia being necessary to the security of a free state is the REASON WHY the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

If citizens do not GET this, then they can be easily fooled by groups who claim that the Second Amendment does not protect the right to keep and bear arms. “It’s just about the militia.”

Let’s practice! THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL TO LEARN. Turn these into simple declarative statements. Find the subject

Direct Instructi on

news

Effective Scho ol Practices

DON CRAW FORD and RAND I SAULTER, Editors

Old DI Advice

Dear friends in the DI community,

What do you remember most about your first experience seeing or using DI?

Still Rings True

Hello and welcom e to the 2008 Summer edition of the DI of the News contain News. This issue s many articles that we hope you will find both inform ative and interesting.

educators. We know you will find this article import ant and useful.

We are happy to include several articles that exemplify the kinds of success that we all know is possible with sound instruction utilizin g DI curricula.

Robert Harris of J/P Associa tes and Classic al

the curriculum they went through from the kind of mistakes they make.

After I heard Geoff ’s report, We have all embrac I read the article ed Zig Engeland mann’s so eloque that it is as timely concluded ntly today as it was that “if the childre stated “mantra” in 1993, when n aren’t learnin I wrote it. The g, the teacher isn’t field still hasn’t teaching.” In learned that a 2001 interview, origina poorly designe lly published d curricula generin School Reform ate poor perform News, we have ance the opporteacher and studen in both tunity to read a concise explan ts. ation to support this way of thinking. It We are offerin also serves to remind g a (2005) piece us of the critical from Zig, “A Litmus role of the educat Test for Urban or.

School Districts.” Zig notes that large Additionally, in districts implement innovat an early (1993) ions, such as DI, in article, Zig points out their own manne how “mis-learning” r, according to and inadequate practic their own previously e often occur established policie due to proced weak curriculum. s and ures. These district In his own words, rules often Zig offers the greatly distort following prologu the innovation. e to the article: Then, when the innovat ion is not success ful, the district assume Geoff Colvin s the innovation is a behaviorist was inadequate, rather who is also a good than blaming teacher and trainer. their internal policie He understands s and procedures. the role of Zig suggests that instruction in districts try an shaping behavio unfettered r. A “litmus test” week before I of innovations posted this article, according Geoff asked me to the develop ers’ guidelines for permission in two or to reproduce and three schools present it at a as a way to determ seminar. Sure. ine both the potent (In fact, I forgot ial of the innovat that I had written ion as well as what needs this paper.) to be changed in the way of district Geoff presented policies. it to graduate students. Some From Martin Kozloff of them later and Monica indicated that Campbell we they were both have an article shocked and insulte entitled “Cognition, Logic, this was the first d because and Instruc tion.” time they had The authors skillful heard anythin ly explain the g about the relafour kinds of cogniti tionship betwee ve knowledge n curriculum as well as the logical structu and failure, particu re and the logical larly the notion operations, how that you could observe studen to attain them, t and behavior and how to use them. infer the flaws The “finale” of in this article contain s a critical conclu sion for

continued on page

3

SUMMER 2008, Volume 8, Numbe r2

In this issue

3 6 8

Challenge and Be Surprised by Your Students Ohio Elementary School on Track to ‘Achieve Greatn ess’ The Curriculum as the Cause of Failure

Litmus Test for Urban School 14 Distric ts Direct

Instruction Reduce s Special Educat 17 Louisia ion Referrals in na School Distric

t by Half

Miami Elemen tary School Boosts 19 FCAT Scores with

Reading Mastery

20

If the Childre n Aren’t Learni ng, We’re Not Teachi ng: Siegfried Engelmann

23 Cognition, Logic, and Instruction Reading

Mastery Helps Florida Students Advanc 28 Levels e Two Grade

You no doubt have plenty of stories to 29 share about your first time with Direct Instruction, whether it was 30 years ago or last month. We hope to hear these stories—and learn from them—in upcoming issues of the DI News. in Reading

California Blue Ribbon School Closes Achiev ement Gap with Reading Mastery

Send us your responses—short answers are fine—to Don Crawford, dc0843@aol.com, or Randi Saulter, itsrandi@aol.com. Let us know your name and your affiliation (school, organization, synagogue, rifle club, political party, etc.). Have a good idea for a future question? Let us know that, too! —Don & Randi, editors

Fall 2011

and predicate. Remove all the blah blah noise, and then state the subject and predicate. Label the subject and predicate.

“The attachment of the Roman troops to their standards was inspired by the united influence of religion and of honor.” [History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol.1 Edward Gibbon,1782] Translation. 1. The Roman troops were attached to their standard. [The Roman eagle atop a pole.] 2. The attachment was inspired by the united influence of religion and honor.”

“The golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the object of their fondest devotion…” [History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol.1 Edward Gibbon, 1782] Translation. 1. The golden eagle glittered. 2. The golden eagle glittered in front of the legion. 3.

The golden eagle was the object of their fondest devotion.

“Listening not to me but the Word (Logos) it is wise to agree that all things are one.” (Heraclitus c. 500 BCE) Translation. 1. I am not the one you should listen to. 2. Listen to the Logos. 3. All things are one.

“Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no crime shall be henceforth punished by deprivation of life or limb…” [Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson.]

Translation. 1. The General Assembly is enacting. 2. No crime shall be punished by deprivation of life or limb. 3. The General Assembly enacts a law that no crime shall be punished by deprivation of life or limb.

“We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created Direct Instruction News

equal…” [From paragraph 2, Declaration of Independence, July, 1776] 1. Some truths are self-evident.

2. We hold some truths to be self-evident. 3. All men are created equal. 4. One truth that we hold self-evident is that all men are created equal. “…government by the whole people, being the government of the most numerous and most powerful class, is an evil of the same nature as unmixed monarchy…” [John Emerich Edward Dalberg. Lord Acton]

Sometimes the subject and predicate are in different sentences. YOU have to find the subject and predicate and boil the several sentences into ONE simple declarative statement.

Translation. 1. Government by the whole people is government of the most numerous and powerful class. 2. Government by an unmixed monarchy is an evil. 3.

Government by the whole people is an evil. 4. Government by the whole people and government by an unmixed monarchy are evils of the same nature.

Okay, so you’ve removed the blab from sentences and restated the sentences as simple declarative statements of subject and predicate. GREAT! But it can get tricky because…

3. Sometimes the subject and predicate are in different sentences.

YOU have to find the subject and predicate and boil the several sentences into ONE simple declarative statement. Look at this.

“What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.” [Fredric Bastiat. The Law. 1850] What’s the subject? The law. The next sentence tells MORE about the law; it tells what the law IS. So, the simple declarative statement of subject and predicate— that pulls together the two SENTENCES—is The law (subject) is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense (predicate).

How about this one?

“There is the authority of the extraordinary and personal gift of grace, the absolutely personal devotion and personal confidence in revelation, heroism, or other qualities of individual leadership. This is charismatic domination…” [Max Weber. “Politics as a Vocation.”

1918] What’s the subject? Charismatic domination—in the second sentence.

What tells more about charismatic domination? The first sentence.

What words in the first sentence FOCUS right on—and tell more about—charismatic domination?

Not “There is the…” Who cares about that? The words that focus on charismatic domination are “the authority of the extraordinary and personal gift of grace, the absolutely personal devotion and personal confidence in revelation, heroism, or other qualities of individual leadership.”

So, what’s the simple declarative statement that connects subject and predicate?

Hint. Charismatic domination is…

Now find the subject and predicate—which may be in different sentences; toss out the noise, and state subject and predicate.

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“A better definition of terrorism is a deliberate attack by armed men on unarmed civilians. Terrorism is aggression against civilians as civilians, inevitably taken by surprise and defenseless.”

[André Glucksmann, “From the HBomb to the Human Bomb,” City Journal, Autumn, 2007] Subject is: ter______m Predicate is spread over TWO sentences. Combine all of the words that tell MORE about the subject.

Now say the simple declarative sentence. ______ (subject) is ______; ______, ______;______ (predicate).

Do the same thing with this one.

“War is the father of all, king of all.

Some it makes gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some free.” [Heraclitus, c. 500 BCE]

4. Sentences may contain more than one knowledge statement.

So, you and your students need to identify separate statements in speech and text, and arrange these into a series of simple, easy to grasp declarative statements.

I’ll show you how.

1. “That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free government of

Sentences may contain more than one knowledge statement. So, you and your students need to identify separate statements in speech and text, and arrange these into a series of simple, easy to grasp declarative statements.

______ (subject) is ______; ______, ______; ______ (predicate).

Now this one.

Ringworm (tinea corpora). This is caused by a microscopic fungus, not a worm. Warmth, humidity, sweating, and poor air circulation all help bring about these fungal infections. http://quickcare.org/skin/fungus.html

Segment into:

______ (subject) is ______; ______,

2. Patriotism (subject) is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which we are members.

______; ______ (predicate).

Okay, you’re doing fine. You (1) removed the noise from one sentence and expressed subject and predicate in one simple declarative statement; and you (2) found subject and predicate in several sentences, removed the noise, and combined the subject and predicate in one simple declarative statement. But remember the sad fact that Human beings are blabber mouths.

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which we are members.” [History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol.1 Edward Gibbon, 1782]

1. One public virtue among the ancients (subject) was denominated patriotism (predicate).

2. “Electromagnetic radiation can be described in terms of a stream of photons, which are massless particles each traveling in a wave-like pattern and moving at the speed of light.” http://imagine. gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_ l1/emspectrum.html

Segment into: 1. Electromagnetic radiation (subject) can best be described in terms of a stream of photons (predicate).

2. Photons (subject) are massless particles [genus, or larger class in which photons are located. MK] each traveling in a wave-like pattern and moving the speed of light [difference between photons and other things in the class of massless particles. MK] NOTE. This is a definition.

See the genus and difference?

3. “In the study of objects which change their brightness over time, such as novae, supernovae, and variable stars, the light curve is a simple but valuable tool to a scientist.” http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ science/how_l1/light_curves.html Segment into: 1. The light curve (subject) is a simple but valuable tool to a scientist in the study of objects which change their brightness over time (predicate).

2. Novae, supernovae, and variable stars (subject) change their brightness over time (predicate).

4. “The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a state [genus or larger class in which monarchy is located. MK], in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be distinguished, is intrusted with the execution of the laws, the management of the revenue, and the command of the army (difference between monarchy and other kinds of states. MK]. But, unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon degenerate into despotism.”

[History of the Decline and Fall of the Fall 2011

Roman Empire, Vol.1 Edward Gibbon, 1782]

This is complex. BUT WE CAN DO IT! We are THAT tough!

smaller version of communist propaganda.

Do you see that that first sentence is a definition of monarchy?

Note the genus and difference.

Notice how below you can substitute words whose meaning is clearer—synonyms. You can point this out to students. “’Writ small’ means smaller version of.”

2. The purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform.

Segment into: 1. A monarchy (subject) is a state [genus part of the predicate], in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be distinguished, is intrusted with the execution of the laws, the management of the revenue, and the command of the army (difference part of the predicate).

2. Monarchy degenerates into despotism [the subject is not monarchy, but the degenerating of monarchy into despotism. MK] when public liberty is not protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians (predicate: tells more about the degeneration of monarchy).

5. “Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed.

A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” [Theodore Dalrymple. http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?A RTID=7445] Direct Instruction News

You can also add comments to clarify.

Also notice that there are hidden statements. The writer MUST believe the hidden statements in order to go from one written statement to the next. For example, if I say two things….

Notice how below you can substitute words whose meaning is clearer— synonyms. You can point this out to students.

3. The purpose of communist propaganda was to humiliate.

4. If you say what is obviously untrue, you humiliate yourself. (hidden statement) 5. Communists want citizens to be humiliated. (hidden statement) 6. The less it (subject: communist propaganda) corresponded to reality (i.e., is obviously untrue) the better (because citizens will be that much more humiliated).

7. People (subject) lose their sense of probity (what is right and proper, and what is wrong) when people are forced to remain silent.

2. Fred is mortal.

8. People (subject) lose their sense of probity when they are being told the most obvious lies.

How did I get from 1 to 2?

Because there is a hidden statement. What is it? Fred is a being.

9. People (subject) lose their sense of probity when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves.

So, it goes like this…

10. When a government (subject) obviously lies, that is evil. (hidden statement)

1. All beings are mortal, and

1. All beings are mortal.

2. Fred is a being. [hidden, implied] 3. Fred is mortal.

So, to help students see how a writer got from X to Z, add Y, help them find the hidden statement.

Okay, let’s segment that tough one above.

Segment into: 1. Political correctness (subject) is communist propaganda writ small. Or, Political correctness is a

11. When you (subject) assent to obvious lies, you cooperate with evil.

12. When you (subject) assent to obvious lies, you in some small way become evil yourself.

13. When you (subject) assent to obvious lies, your standing to resist anything is eroded.

14. When you (subject) assent to obvious lies, your standing to resist anything is destroyed.

15. A society of emasculated liars (subject) is easy to control.

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This is a great place to ask for technical assistance, opinions on curricula, and hear about successes and pitfalls related to DI. To subscribe to the list, send the following message from your email account: To: majordomo@lists.uoregon.edu In the message portion of the email simply type: subscribe di (Don’t add Please or any other words to your message. It will only cause errors. majordomo is a computer, not a person. No one reads your subscription request.)

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20

16. The intended effect of political correctness (subject) is to emasculate citizens and make them easy to control.

Here. Segment these into simple declarative statements. You will be so smart when you learn to do this!

Remember: a. Many sentences contain more than one declarative statement. Segment the sentence into these separate declarative statements. b. Sometimes a simple declarative statement is spread over several sentences.

The subject may be one sentence (and not necessarily the first sentence) and the predicate is in another. In fact, the predicate (words that tell more about the subject) may be spread over several sentences. So, find the subject and predicate, and collapse the sentences into one statement. c. You can substitute a clearer word—a synonym. d. You can add a comment to clarify. e. You should add hidden statements.

“All is flux, nothing stays still.” (Heraclitus c. 500 BCE) “The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain.” (Nikola Tesla. My Inventions. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Publishing.)

“The rampart itself was usually twelve feet high, armed with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and defended by a ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in breadth.” [Description of Roman legion camps. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol.1 Edward Gibbon,1782] “A well-regulated militia being (can you think of another word that makes this easier to get? How about a twoletter word starting with i and ending with s?) necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be

infringed.” (Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) “We must realize that war is universal, and strife is justice, and that all things come into being and pass away through strife.” (Heraclitus c. 500 BCE) “This world, which is the same for all, no one of gods or men has made, but it was ever, is now, and ever shall be eternal fire.” (Heraclitus c. 500 BCE) “For a Monarchy readily becomes a Tyranny, an Aristocracy an Oligarchy, while a Democracy tends to degenerate into Anarchy. So that if the founder of a State should establish any one of these three forms of Government, he establishes it for a short time only, since no precaution he may take can prevent it from sliding into its contrary, by reason of the close resemblance which, in this case, the virtue bears to the vice.”

[Niccolo Machiavelli, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius] “Thrasymachos. And the different forms of government make laws democratical, aristocratical, tyrannical, with a view to their several interests; and these laws, which are made by them for their own interests, are the justice which they deliver to their subjects, and him who transgresses them they punish as a breaker of the law, and unjust.” (Plato, Republic. 428/427 BCE – 348/347 BCE) “But the possession of unlimited power, which corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding of monarchs exercised its demoralizing influence on the illustrious Democracy of Athens.” (Lord Acton) Well, that’s probably enough for now.

More reading here.

Aristotle. On Interpretation. Written 350 B.C.E. http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/interpretation.mb.txt Copi, I. M, Cohen, C., (2001), Introduction to Logic, 11th Edition.

Wittgenstein, L. (1958), Philosophical investigations. http://gormendizer.co. za/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ Ludwig.Wittgenstein.-.Philosophical.

Investigations.pdf Fall 2011

Now Available from ADI…

Keynotes From the 2011 National Direct Instruction Conference Available Couldn’t make it the National Direct Instruction Conference in July, or were you there and want to share part of your experience with others?

Copies of the opening remarks by Zig Engelmann, the opening keynote by Cary Andrews, and Zig’s closing keynote are available from ADI on DVD. Cary Andrews is the Associate Superintendent for Curriculum Implementation and Development in Reading and Language Arts at the Roger Bacon Academy, an Educational Management Company based in North Carolina. He has worked as a National Educational Consultant for many years as well as taught at all levels in general and special education. His presentation is lively, informative and inspiring.

To order, fill out the form below or order online.

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Association for Direct Instruction P.O. Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • www.adihome.org • 541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax)

Now Available from ADI…

COACHES TOOL KIT These useful pre-printed Post-It® notes are used to help convey important teaching skills to users of the Direct Instruction Reading programs. Instead of having to write out the proper presentation of the correction or procedure, one simply peels a sheet off the pad and puts it in the next lesson or two where the correction/procedure would be used.

The primary set, for use primarily with Reading Mastery I and II and Decoding A contains correction procedures for • Reading Vocabulary/Sounding Out (Words in Columns) • Individual Turns • Comprehension Questions • Reading Vocabulary (Sound Identification Errors) • Looping for Sound-It-Out Words • Word Identification Errors (Group Reading) The upper level set, for use primarily with Reading Mastery III–VI and Corrective Reading contains correction procedures for • Individual Turns • Comprehension Questions • Word Identification Errors (Word Attack) • Word Identification Errors (Group Reading) The two come together as a kit and are priced at $30.00 per kit ($24.00 for ADI members). Contact ADI for quantity pricing.

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Fall 2011

Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model ADI has an extensive collection of videos on Direct Instruction. These videos are categorized as informational, training, or motivational in nature. The informational tapes are either of historical interest or were produced to describe Direct Instruction. The training tapes have been designed to be either stand-alone training or used to supplement and reinforce live training. The motivational tapes are keynote presentations from past years of the National Direct Instruction Conference.

Informational Tapes Where It All Started—45 minutes. Zig teaching kindergarten children for the Engelmann-Bereiter pre-school in the 60s.

These minority children demonstrate mathematical understanding far beyond normal developmental expectations. This acceleration came through expert teaching from the man who is now regarded as the “Father of Direct Instruction,” Zig Engelmann. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Challenge of the 90s: Higher-Order thinking—45 minutes, 1990. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction strategies. Includes home-video footage and Follow Through. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Follow Through: A Bridge to the Future—22 minutes, 1992. Direct Instruction Dissemination Center, Wesley Elementary School in Houston, Texas, demonstrates approach. Principal, Thaddeus Lott, and teachers are interviewed and classroom footage is shown. Created by Houston Independent School District in collaborative partnership with Project Follow Through. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Direct Instruction—black and white, 1 hour, 1978. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction compiled by Haddox for University of Oregon College of Education from footage of Project Follow Through and Eugene Classrooms. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Training DVDs The Elements of Effective Coaching—3 hours, 1998. Content in The Elements of Effective Coaching was developed by Ed Schaefer and Molly Blakely. The video includes scenarios showing 27 common teaching problems, with demonstrations of coaching interventions for each problem. A common intervention format is utilized in all scenarios. Print material that details each teaching problem and the rationale for correcting the problem is provided. This product should be to used to supplement live DI coaching training and is ideal for Coaches, Teachers, Trainers. Price…$395.00 Member Price…$316.00 Reading Mastery 1, 2, 3 and Fast-Cycle Preservice and Inservice Training—The first videos of the Level I and Level II series present intensive preservice training on basic Direct Instruction teaching techniques and classroom management strategies used in Reading Mastery and the equivalent lesson in Fast-Cycle. Rationale is explained. Critical techniques are presented and demonstrated. Participants are led through practical exercises. Classroom teaching demonstrations with students are shown. The remaining videos are designed to be used during the school year as inservice training. The DVDs are divided into segments, which present teaching techniques for a set of of upcoming lessons.

Price: $229.00.

Conference Keynotes These videos are keynotes from the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene. These videos are professional quality, two-camera productions suitable for use in meetings and trainings.

Keynotes From the 2005 National DI Conference, July 2005, Eugene, Oregon Carefully Designed Curriculum: A Key to Success. For the past 31 years Zig Engelmann has delivered the opening keynote of the National DI Conference, and this year was no exception. Zig focuses on the careful design of the Direct Instruction programs that make them effective in the classroom versus other programs that have some of the component design elements, but not all and are therefore less effective than DI. Pioneering author Doug Carnine describes some of the challenges we face in educating our children to compete on a world class level. Doug also goes into detail of how to create a school improvement plan and how to implement it. As a bonus, the conference closing is included. Price: Videotape $30.00, DVD $40.00

continued on next page Direct Instruction News

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Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model...continued Keynotes From the 2004 National DI Conference, July 2004, Eugene, Oregon—Conference attendees rated the keynotes from the 30th National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes as one of the best features of the 2004 conference. Chris Doherty, Director of Reading First from the U.S. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in Washington, DC, delivered a humorous, informative, and motivating presentation. Chris has been an advocate of Direct Instruction for many years. In his capacity with the federal government he has pushed for rules that insist on states following through with the mandate to use programs with a proven track record. The way he relates his role as a spouse and parent to his professional life would make this an ideal video for those both new to DI as well as veteran users.

In the second opening keynote, Zig Engelmann outlines common misconceptions that teachers have about teaching and learning. Once made aware of common pitfalls, it is easier to avoid them, thereby increasing teacher effectiveness and student performance. Price: $30.00 To the Top of the Mountain—Giving Kids the Education They Deserve—75 minutes. Milt Thompson, Principal of 21st Century Preparatory School in Racine, Wisconsin gives a very motivational presentation of his quest to dramatically change the lives of all children and give them the education they deserve. Starting with a clear vision of his goal, Thompson describes his journey that turned the lowest performing school in Kenosha, Wisconsin into a model of excellence. In his keynote, Senior Direct Instruction developer Zig Engelmann focuses on the four things you have to do to have an effective Direct Instruction implementation. These are: work hard, pay attention to detail, treat problems as information, and recognize that it takes time. He provides concrete examples of the ingredients that go into Direct Instruction implementations as well as an interesting historical perspective. Price: $30.00 No Excuses in Portland Elementary, The Right Choice Isn’t Always the Easiest, and Where Does the Buck Stop? 2 tapes, 1 hour, 30 minutes total. Ernest Smith is Principal of Portland Elementary in Portland, Arkansas. The February 2002 issue of Reader’s Digest featured Portland Elementary in an article about schools that outperformed expectations. Smith gives huge credit to the implementation of DI as the key to his student’s and teacher’s success. In his opening remarks, Zig Engelmann gives a summary of the Project Follow Through results and how these results translate into current educational practices. Also included are Zig’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00 Lesson Learned…The Story of City Springs, Reaching for Effective Teaching, and Which Path to Success? 2 tapes, 2 hours total. In the fall of 2000 a documentary was aired on PBS showing the journey of City Springs Elementary in Baltimore from a place of hopelessness to a place of hope. The principal of City Springs, Bernice Whelchel, addressed the 2001 National DI Conference with an update on her school and delivered a truly inspiring keynote. She describes the determination of her staff and students to reach the excellence she knew they were capable of.

Through this hard work City Springs went from being one of the 20 lowest schools in the Baltimore City Schools system to one of the top 20 schools. This keynote also includes a 10minute video updating viewers on the progress at City 24

Springs in the 2000–2001 school year. In the second keynote Zig Engelmann elaborates on the features of successful implementations such as City Springs. Also included are Zig’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00 Successful Schools…How We Do It—35 minutes. Eric Mahmoud, Co-founder and CEO of Seed Academy/Harvest Preparatory School in Minneapolis, Minnesota presented the lead keynote for the 1998 National Direct Instruction Conference. His talk was rated as one of the best features of the conference. Eric focused on the challenges of educating our inner city youth and the high expectations we must communicate to our children and teachers if we are to succeed in raising student performance in our schools. Also included on this video is a welcome by Siegfried Engelmann, Senior Author and Developer of Direct Instruction Programs. Price: $15.00 Commitment to Children—Commitment to Excellence and How Did We Get Here…Where are We Going?— 95 minutes. These keynotes bring two of the biggest names in Direct Instruction together. The first presentation is by Thaddeus Lott, Senior. Dr. Lott was principal at Wesley Elementary in Houston, Texas from 1974 until 1995. During that time he turned the school into one of the best in the nation, despite demographics that would predict failure. He is an inspiration to thousands across the country. The second presentation by Siegfried Engelmann continues on the theme that we know all we need to know about how to teach—we just need to get out there and do it. This tape also includes Engelmann’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00 State of the Art & Science of Teaching and Higher Profile, Greater Risks—50 minutes. This tape is the opening addresses from the 1999 National Direct Instruction Conference at Eugene. In the first talk Steve Kukic, former Director of Special Education for the state of Utah, reflects on the trend towards using research based educational methods and research validated materials. In the second presentation, Higher Profile, Greater Risks, Siegfried Engelmann reflects on the past of Direct Instruction and what has to be done to ensure successful implementation of DI. Price: $30.00 Fads, Fashions, & Follies—Linking Research to Practice—25 minutes. Dr. Kevin Feldman, Director of Reading and Early Intervention for the Sonoma County Office of Education in Santa Rosa, California presents on the need to apply research findings to educational practices. He supplies a definition of what research is and is not, with examples of each. His style is very entertaining and holds interest quite well. Price: $15.00 Aren’t You Special—25 minutes. Motivational talk by Linda Gibson, Principal at a school in Columbus, Ohio, successful with DI, in spite of minimal support. Keynote from 1997 National DI Conference. Price: $15.00 Effective Teaching: It’s in the Nature of the Task—25 minutes. Bob Stevens, expert in cooperative learning from Penn State University, describes how the type of task to be taught impacts the instructional delivery method. Keynote from 1997 National DI Conference. Price: $15.00

continued on next page Fall 2011

Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model...continued Moving from Better to the Best—20 minutes. Closing keynote from the National DI Conference. Classic Zig Engelmann doing one of the many things he does well…motivating teaching professionals to go out into the field and work with kids in a sensible and sensitive manner, paying attention to the details of instruction, making sure that excellence instead of “pretty good” is the standard we strive for and other topics that have been the constant theme of his work over the years. Price $15.00

talk “Get it Straight, Do it Right, and Keep it Straight” is a call for people to do what they already know works, and not to abandon sensible approaches in favor of “innovations” that are recycled fads. Siegfried Engelmann delivers the closing “Words vs. Deeds” in his usual inspirational manner, with a plea to teachers not to get worn down by the weight of a system that at times does not reward excellence as it should. Price: $25.00

One More Time—20 minutes. Closing from 1997 National DI Conference. One of Engelmann’s best motivational talks.

Good for those already using DI, this is sure to make them know what they are doing is the right choice for teachers, students, and our future. Price: $15.00

Keynotes from the 1995 Conference—2 hours. Titles and speakers include: Anita Archer, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University, speaking on “The Time Is Now” (An overview of key features of DI); Rob Horner, Professor, University of Oregon, speaking on “Effective Instruction for All Learners”; Zig Engelmann, Professor, University of Oregon, speaking on “Truth or Consequences.” Price: $25.00

An Evening of Tribute to Siegfried Engelmann—2.5 hours.

On July 26, 1995, 400 of Zig Engelmann’s friends, admirers, colleagues, and protégés assembled to pay tribute to the “Father of Direct Instruction.” The Tribute tape features Carl Bereiter, Wes Becker, Barbara Bateman, Cookie Bruner, Doug Carnine, and Jean Osborn—the pioneers of Direct Instruction—and many other program authors, paying tribute to Zig. Price: $25.00 Keynotes from 22nd National DI Conference—2 hours.

Ed Schaefer speaks on “DI—What It Is and Why It Works,” an excellent introductory talk on the efficiency of DI and the sensibility of research based programs. Doug Carnine’s

Keynote Presentations from the 1994 20th Anniversary Conference—2 hours. Titles and speakers include: Jean Osborn, Associate Director for the Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois, speaking on “Direct Instruction: Past, Present & Future”; Sara Tarver, Professor, University of Wisconsin, Madison, speaking on “I Have a Dream That Someday We Will Teach All Children”; Zig Engelmann, Professor, University of Oregon, speaking on “So Who Needs Standards?” Price: $25.00

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Books Price List The Association for Direct Instruction distributes the following Direct Instruction materials. Members of ADI receive a 20% discount on these materials. To join ADI and take advantage of this discount, simply fill out the form and include your annual dues with your order.

Title & Author

Member Price

List Price

Preventing Failure in the Primary Grades (1969 & 1997) Siegfried Engelmann

$19.95

$24.95

Theory of Instruction (1991) Siegfried Engelmann & Douglas Carnine

$32.00

$40.00

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (1983) Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, & Elaine Bruner

$17.50

$22.00

Structuring Classrooms for Academic Success (1983) S. Paine, J. Radicchi, L. Rosellini, L. Deutchman, & C. Darch

$14.50

$18.00

War Against the Schools’ Academic Child Abuse (1992) Siegfried Engelmann

$14.95

$17.95

Research on Direct Instruction (1996) Gary Adams & Siegfried Engelmann

$24.95

$29.95

Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the Classroom Geoff Colvin

$24.00

$28.00

Rubric for Identifying Authentic Direct Instruction Programs Siegfried Engelmann & Geoff Colvin

$12.00

$15.00

Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward System Siegfried Engelmann

$25.00

$32.00

$5.00

$7.00

Corrective Reading Sounds DVD Use this chart to figure your shipping and handling charges.

If your order is: Postage & Handling is: $0.00 to $5.00 $3.85 $5.01 to $10.00 $4.50 $10.01 to $15.00 $5.85 $15.01 to $20.99 $7.85 $21.00 to $40.99 $8.50 $41.00 to $60.99 $9.85 $61.00 to $80.99 $10.85 $81.00 or more 10% of Subtotal Outside the continental U.S., add $8 more

Quantity

Total

Subtotal Postage & Handling ADI Membership Dues Total (U.S. Funds) Make payment or purchase orders payable to the Association for Direct Instruction.

Please charge my __ Visa ___ Mastercard ___ Discover in the amount of $______________ Card #_______________________________________________________Exp Date _________________________________ Signed ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ City:_______________________________________State: ______________________Zip: ____________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ School District or Agency: ________________________________________________________________________________ Position: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ e-mail address:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Send to ADI, PO Box 10252, Eugene, OR 97440 You may also phone in your order with VISA or Mastercard. Phone 1.800.995.2464. Order online at www.adihome.org 26

Fall 2011

Association for Direct Instruction PO Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • 541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax) What is ADI, the Association for Direct Instruction?

ADI is a nonprofit organization dedicated primarily to providing support for teachers and other educators who use Direct Instruction programs. That support includes conferences on how to use Direct Instruction programs, publication of The Journal of Direct Instruction (JODI), Direct Instruction News (DI News), and the sale of various products of interest to our members.

Who Should Belong to ADI? Most of our members use Direct Instruction programs, or have a strong interest in using those programs. Many people who do not use Direct Instruction programs have joined ADI due to their interest in receiving our semiannual publications, The Journal of Direct Instruction and Direct Instruction News. JODI is a peer-reviewed professional publication containing new and reprinted research related to effective instruction. Direct Instruction News focuses on success stories, news and reviews of new programs and materials and information on using DI more effectively.

Membership Options $60.00 Regular Membership (includes one year subscription to ADI publications, a 20% discount on ADI sponsored events and on materials sold by ADI). $40.00 Student Membership (includes one year subscription to ADI publications, and a 40% discount on ADI sponsored events and a 20% discount on materials sold by ADI). $100.00 Sustaining Membership (includes Regular membership privileges and recognition of your support in Direct Instruction News). $200.00 Institutional Membership (includes 5 subscriptions to ADI publications and regular membership privileges for 5 staff people).

4 Canadian addresses add $10.00 US to above prices.

4 Outside of North America add $20.00 for standard delivery or $30.00 for airmail delivery.

4 Contributions and dues to ADI are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

4 Please make checks payable to ADI.

Please charge my __ Visa ___ Mastercard ___ Discover in the amount of $______________ Card #_______________________________________________________Exp Date _________________________________ Signed ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ City:_______________________________________State: ______________________Zip: ____________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ School District or Agency: ________________________________________________________________________________ Position: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ e-mail address:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Direct Instruction News

27

Association for Direct Instruction PO Box 10252 Eugene, OR 97440

Thank you to our Sustaining Members The ADI Board of Directors acknowledges the financial contributions made by the following individuals. Their generosity helps our organization continue to promote the use of effective, research-based methods and materials in our schools.

Anayezuka Ahidiana

Cindy Dosier

Kathleen Jungjohan

Frank Smith

Jason Aronoff

Donna Dressman

Deborah Lazarri

Karen Sorrentino

Tamie Bebee

Julie Eisele

Janet Lopez

Sara G Tarver

Anne Berchtold

Janet Fender

Kip Orloff

Mary Taylor

Jim Berchtold

Terri Getty

Steve Osborn

Judith Towns

Almitra Berry

Richard Gifford

Jean Osborn

Vicci Tucci

Elaine C. Bruner

David Giguere

David Parr

Maria Vanoni

Cathy Burner

Dick Glatzmaier

Cathy Redelberger

Tricia Walsh-Coughlan

William Bursuck

Ray Hall

Patrice Riggin

Cathy Watkins

Maria Collins

Linda Haniford

Thomas Rollins

Paul Weisberg

Jim Cowardin

Lee Hemenway

Randi Saulter

Charles Wood

Don Crawford

Daniel Hursh

Ed Schaefer

Linda Youngmayr

Mary Damer

Gary Johnson

Carolyn Schneider

Leslie Zoref

Laura Doherty

Dr. Kent Johnson

Pam Smith