NCSA ListServThe Gering Story
.
Learn how Gering Public Schools closed a 23 percent achievement gap between white and Hispanic students in three years by implementing the full immersion model of Direct Instruction (DI) with the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI).Direct Instruction (DI) is a model for teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons designed around small learning increments and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks. It is based on the theory that clear instruction eliminating misinterpretations can greatly improve and accelerate learning.
Its creators, Siegfried Engelmann and Dr. Wesley Becker and their colleagues believe and have proved that correctly applied, DI can improve academic performance as well as certain affective behaviors. It is currently in use in thousands of schools across the nation as well as in Canada, the UK and Australia. Schools using DI accept a vision that actually delivers many outcomes only promised by other models.
A crucial element in the implementation of DI in most cases is change. Teachers will generally be required to behave differently than before and schools may need an entirely different organization than they previously employed. Even staff members will be called upon to alter some operations.
The popular valuing of teacher creativity and autonomy as high priorities must give way to a willingness to follow certain carefully prescribed instructional practices. (Remaining the same, however, are the importance of hard work, dedication and commitment to students.) And it is crucial that all concerned adopt and internalize the belief that all students, if properly taught, can learn.