The Backstory of Direct Instruction

Hello everyone, My name is Dr. Zach Groshell. I am an educator, a parent, and the host of this show, the Direct Instruction Podcast.

This show is brought to you by NIFDI, The National Institute For Direct Instruction.

As an advocate for direct and explicit forms of instruction, I wanted to know more about Uppercase DI, and that’s what this podcast is all about. Over the next several episodes, we are going to be talking to the teachers, the implementers, the designers, and the proponents of Direct Instruction. We will learn about Project Follow Through, the most extensive research study in the history of education and explore over 50 years of research on the effectiveness of this unique approach. To kick this show off, it makes sense to go back to the very beginning, back to the creator of Direct Instruction, Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann.

In the second half of this episode, we will hear from one of the twins featured in the video above, Kurt Engelmann. Dr. Engelmann will share personal stories about his father and comment on the past and future directions for Direct Instruction from his perspective as the President of NIFDI. Kurt also mentions the Gering School District in Nebraska. Check out the film below, Closing the Performance Gap: The Gering Story. More videos like this can be found at https://www.nifdi.org/videos/nifdi-schools.html.

But before we go over to Kurt, we will hear from Bryan Wickman, who is the Outreach Director for NIFDI, and who has been instrumental in getting this podcast off the ground. Bryan has been involved in Direct Instruction for over 40 years, literally starting as a shipping clerk and receptionist at Engelmann-Becker back in 1978. Bryan will walk us through what is Direct Instruction, and how it came to be.

– Zach Groshell

Further readings from Kurt Engelmann

Bereiter, Carl, and Engelmann, Siegfried. (1966). Teaching Disadvantaged Children in the Preschool. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Carnine, Douglas and Kame’enui, Edward J., editors. (1992). Higher Order Thinking: Designing Curriculum for Mainstreamed Students. Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed.

Engelmann, Kurt E. (2024). Direct Instruction:  A Practitioner’s Handbook. London, the United Kingdom: John Catt Educational from Hodder Education.

Engelmann, Siegfried. (1969). Preventing Failure in the Primary Grades. Chicago: Science Research Associates.

Engelmann, Siegfried.  (2007).  Teaching Needy Kids in our Backward System: 42 Years of Trying.  Eugene, Oregon: ADI Press.

Engelmann, Siegfried, and Carnine, Douglas. (1991). Theory of instruction: Principles and applications (Rev. Ed.). Eugene, OR: ADI Press. (Originally published, 1982, New York: Irvington Publishing, Inc.)