Direct Instruction (DI) is the dirty little secret of the educational establishment.
This method … is the opposite of the favored methods of today’s high-paid education gurus, and contradicts the popular theories that are taught to new teachers in our universities.
Direct Instruction … (has been demonstrated) in the largest educational study ever … and continues to bring remarkable success at low cost when it is implemented.
One large (5 year comparative) study that parents really should know about is Project Follow Through, completed in the 1970s.
This was the largest educational study ever done, costing over $600 million, and covering 79,000 children in 180 communities.
This project examined a variety of programs and educational philosophies to learn how to improve education of disadvantaged children in grades K-3. … Desired positive outcomes included basic skills, cognitive skills (“higher order thinking”) and affective gains (self-esteem).
The program that gave the best results in general was true Direct Instruction, a subset of Basic Skills.
The other program types, which closely resemble today’s educational strategies (having labels like “holistic,” “student-centered learning,” “learning-to-learn,” “active learning,” “cooperative education,” and “whole language”) were inferior.