Direct Instruction
Curriculum
One-Fourth of K-12 Math Instruction Occurs Digitally, Survey Suggests
Print is still popular, and math teachers still want time for direct instruction and group work, according to market-intelligence firm Simba Information.
Teaching
Opinion
Why Does Teacher Talk Still Dominate High School Classrooms?
Teacher talk still dominates high school classrooms, but it doesn't have to, and here are a few reasons why.
School & District Management
Study: Struggling Math Students Need Direct Instruction, Not 'Fun' Activities
Music, movement, and manipulatives, while fun, may hinder 1st graders struggling in math, study suggests.
Equity & Diversity
Is Direct Instruction a School-Equity Issue?
An education professor writes that direct instruction presents a quandary for educators. On the one hand, he says, it can to help students' acquire basic skills and do better on standardized tests. On the other, it embodies a highly restrictive view of learning.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Karl Wheatley: Has Direct Instruction Banished Exploration? Not So Fast!
Guest post by Karl Wheatley
A recent guest post here by John Thompson, Neither Teacher-less nor Teacher-proof: Constructivism Meets Guided Instruction, led to a lively discussion in the comments. I asked one reader to expand on his thoughts, and this post is the result.
A recent guest post here by John Thompson, Neither Teacher-less nor Teacher-proof: Constructivism Meets Guided Instruction, led to a lively discussion in the comments. I asked one reader to expand on his thoughts, and this post is the result.
Education
Researchers Disagree On Improving Reading In Rural Areas
Researchers debate the Direct Instruction model in teaching reading to rural students, in a series of Journal of Research in Rural Education articles.
Curriculum
Does Lecturing Work Better After All?
This is bound to spark some interest. Harvard scholar Paul E. Peterson points to new research finding that 8th graders who received more direct instruction scored higher on an international math and science test than those whose teachers' predominantly engaged them in problem-solving activities. He notes that this is the direction that KIPP and other charter schools have already been moving, but that—sadly, in his view—most middle school instruction in the U.S., influenced by the "child-centered" theories of John Dewey and his progressive-education followers, "is weighted more towards problem-solving."
Education
McWhorter Makes Case for Direct Instruction
Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow John McWhorter offers a scathing critique in this New Republic article of New York City's approach to bridging the reading gap between black and white children.
Federal
NCLB Could Alter Science Teaching
Soon, schools across the country could face a new, powerful incentive to consider new mode of science instruction, some observers say.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
The President's Reading Lesson
English professor Dennis Baron draws unhappy parallels between George W. Bush's actions on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and the "direct instruction" occurring in the classroom the president was visiting.
Education
Letter to the Editor
Direct-Instruction Tale Draws Mixed Reviews
To the Editor:
I was disappointed to read the recent Commentary by Dennis Baron ("The President's Reading Lesson," Sept. 8, 2004). Mr. Baron may or may not know something about reading instruction, but he knows nothing about what the president should do in a situation such as the one President Bush found himself and the nation in on Sept. 11, 2001.
I was disappointed to read the recent Commentary by Dennis Baron ("The President's Reading Lesson," Sept. 8, 2004). Mr. Baron may or may not know something about reading instruction, but he knows nothing about what the president should do in a situation such as the one President Bush found himself and the nation in on Sept. 11, 2001.
School & District Management
Study Challenges Direct Reading Method
A study on reading instruction in two Wisconsin districts suggests that a widely used skills-based program may not be effective in raising the achievement of children in urban schools.
Teaching
A Delicate Balance
The Montessori and Direct Instruction teaching methods can seem worlds apart. But in Texas' Aldine district, parents can pick between them—at the same schools.
Teaching
Studies Cite Learning Gains In Direct Instruction Schools
Schools using Direct Instruction, a teaching method sometimes criticized for its tightly scripted teaching lessons, are generally seeing gains in student learning, according to a new package of studies that tracked the program in Florida, Maryland, and Texas.