Welcome to the National Institute for Direct Instruction
The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) is the world's foremost Direct Instruction (DI) support provider. This website provides information and resources for administrators, teachers, and parents to help them maximize student achievement through DI. The website also contains information on DI's extensive and broad research base, including a searchable database of more than one hundred article summaries.
Download the brochure!
Direct Instruction (DI) programs are based on over 40 years of research on how children learn and the most effective ways to teach. Studies involving DI curricula and its implementation have been conducted with a wide variety of populations, in different settings and within all subject areas related to the programs. As such, the volume of research on DI is expansive. The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) makes this extensive research base more accessible to educators and researchers through a free online searchable database of over 200 entries.
Latest News
- NEW! Are you smarter than a BCP 5th grader?
- NEW! Have you found errors in the DI programs?
- NEW! Literature in Reading Mastery Signature Edition Downloadable Booklet Now Available!
- NEW! Engineering Society of Detroit Recommends DI as Remedy for Lack of Early Reading and Math Skills
- Report on the WWC and Its Reviews of DI Programs
- NIFDI and IDEA Public Schools to Present at National Charter School Conference (Updated 4-23-13)
- DI and the Common Core State Standards
- NIFDI Announces Revised DI Research Database
In a video recently uploaded to YouTube, maverick educator Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann demonstrates an instructional approach that has young children solving basic algebraic problems (DI, of course!). This is the first part of a video filmed in the summer of 1966. The students featured in the film attended the Bereiter-Engelmann Preschool for at-risk children and, at the time of this filming, had not yet entered first grade. Checkout the video on YouTube today at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpyHfusYkKY. Be sure to share the link with your friends and fellow educators, too!
The video is available in its entirety at www.zigsite.com.
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Video Library
Video Series Available for Training, Coaching and More...All Free!
Visit our Video Library today to view full-length coaching and training videos for FREE! While you're there, check out our latest success stories from schools and from the founder of DI, Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann.
How to Ensure Success
Do you know how to ensure that your school's DI implementation is successful?
The services and implementation materials provided by the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) provide schools and districts with a strong basis for implementing the comprehensive Direct Instruction (DI) model successfully with all children. However, a successful implementation requires much more than the services NIFDI provides. What a school does with the services makes the biggest difference.
Find Research on DI
Visit the Research Database Today!
- More than 100 studies featured
- Seach by Year, Author, or Area of Interest
- Each research study is summarized for your convenience!





