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.
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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! DI Provides Sustainable Improvement Model for Cape York Schools
- NEW! Are you smarter than a BCP 5th grader?
- NEW! Have you found errors in the DI programs?
- Literature in Reading Mastery Signature Edition Downloadable Booklet Now Available!
- 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
In an article dramatically titled, "The Death of Preschool," in the November/December 2011 issue of Scientific American Mind, Paul Tullis attempts to establish a link between "direct instruction" and a host of psychological and physical ailments that preschool children may suffer later in life due to "toxic stress". Without clearly establishing what he means by "direct instruction," Tullis makes the claim that "early exposure to academics" has the potential "to psychologically damage developing brains," and can lead to physical health problems, including (but presumably not limited to) "depression, anxiety disorders--even cardiovascular disease and diabetes." Damage to the hippocampus is evidently a likely outcome if a child learns the names of different types of whales in preschool, according to Tullis.
Dr. Kurt Engelmann responds to Mr. Tullis' article in his letter to the Editor of Scientific American Mind.
The article was published in Scientific American Mind and is available for purchase on their website at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-death-of-preschool.
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Do you want to learn more about Direct Instruction? Would you like to receive current news, messages and announcements regarding DI? Sign up for our FREE service and bring the world of DI to your inbox!
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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 200 studies featured
- Search by year, author, subject area or type of study
- Access convenient content summaries
- Request full-text articles from NIFDI's Research Department
