Research on the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI) has spanned over 40 years, consistently providing support for the assertion that all children can learn if provided with appropriate instruction. Studies involving Direct Instruction 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. This report from the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) provides citations to many of these studies.

The document has five major sections. The first section lists the DI programs that have been developed over the years, with separate sections for different subjects. Sections II, III, and IV focus on studies of DI’s effectiveness, categorizing the studies by the type of research design and curricular focus. Section II lists studies that utilized randomized control designs, while Section III lists studies that used quasi-experimental and other designs. Section IV lists the studies noted in Sections I and II by year of publication, beginning with the most recent. Studies that have been abstracted in NIFDI’s on-line searchable research base are indicated by an asterisk in this section.

Section V lists a wide variety of other work related to Direct Instruction. The first subsection includes a broad range of general articles and books. This is followed by criticisms and responses, writings on Project Follow Through, and then material related to specific subject areas and target audiences. An extensive sub-section (Q) lists studies that were instrumental in the development of the programs and the two final subsections list unpublished dissertations and theses and case-study reports from individual schools and districts.

This compilation of citations will be regularly updated. Because the body of research related to Direct Instruction is so large, many studies may not have been included or may be wrongly classified. Researchers who know of other studies that should be added, including unpublished manuscripts such as dissertations and thesis projects, or who have other suggestions for corrections are asked to send their ideas to the NIFDI research office at research@nifdi.org .

Click here to see the latest addition to NIFDI's tools and resources on DI research: A Bibliography of the DI Curriculum and Studies Examining its Efficacy.