di: Direct Instruction: Start-of-the-year Procedures

Fri Sep 6 11:41:57 PDT 2024

DI listmates,

Below is a short article I just posted to LinkedIn on DI start-of-the-year
procedures.  The direct link is
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/direct-instruction-start-of-the-year-procedures-kurt-engelmann-knxdc/?trackingId=Rmg3GPXrp5xCBP7X4UCS3Q%3D%3D
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_pulse_direct-2Dinstruction-2Dstart-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dyear-2Dprocedures-2Dkurt-2Dengelmann-2Dknxdc_-3FtrackingId-3DRmg3GPXrp5xCBP7X4UCS3Q-253D-253D&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=VBFVJdeZkD2A0voi_nvOAr77kAqH_yoXjZYvBc1gB34&m=0JUrMNZWLh6nuWrZyaw4aa45NjjTK_7i-RG4Er-DORHF2ZBZwVbgVRgRKsyS3OvK&s=nHU3KlYTj8go0m-NESrmr58gFnKUWT5a46fFBSDAuXg&e=>.
I hope it comes through ok in this email to you.

FYI, I'm going to do a series of short articles about DI based on my
book, *Direct
Instruction: A Practitioner’s Handbook*

https://tinyurl.com/direct-instruction-handbook.  I'll post them to this
list, too.  Comments via the list or directly to me are welcome.

Kurt E.

877 485-1973 x119

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Direct Instruction: Start-of-the-year Procedures

With the start of the new school year, many schools are starting to
implement DI for the first time.  For these schools, and for schools that
have implemented DI without expert external support in past years, the
*Start-of-the-year
Flow Chart* may be useful.
[image: Start-of-the-year Flow Chart for implementing Direct Instruction.]

The flowchart, which appears on p. 230 of *Direct Instruction: A
Practitioner’s Handbook* <https://tinyurl.com/direct-instruction-handbook>,
shows the sequence of steps that must be taken *in the order presented* to
start a DI implementation successfully:

   - *Placement testing*
   <https://www.nifdi.org/programs/about-the-programs/placement-testing.html>*
   is the first step because students are taught at their instructional level
   in DI, which informs the steps that follow.* For several programs, there
   are multiple starting points within each program level.  DI programs
   incorporate an “incremental step design” with only 10-15% new material each
   day, which allows all students to succeed *if they are placed at their
   instructional level and taught to mastery daily*.  (More on the design
   of the DI programs in a future post.)
   - *Instructional groups are formed based on the results of the placement
   testing.* The goal is to create groups that are as homogenous as
   possible based on the students’ skill level as demonstrated by the
   placement test results.  The size of these groups must meet program
   requirements
   <https://www.nifdi.org/how-to-be-successful/ensuring-sufficient-personnel.html>.
   In general, the first two levels of the DI programs require small group
   instruction (a maximum of 4-12 students per group).  Upper levels of the
   program allow for large group instruction (whole classes of 25 students or
   more).
   - *The number of students who place at specific program levels will
   determine DI teacher assignments.* Just as students may place into a
   program level other than their nominal grade level, teachers may teach a
   program level that does not correspond to their general teaching
   assignment.  (For instance, a 2nd grade teacher may teach second graders
   who place into the Kindergarten level of *Reading Mastery*
   <https://www.nifdi.org/programs/reading/reading-mastery-transformations-edition.html>
   .)
   - *The instructional groupings determine the student and teacher
   materials required to start the implementation.* The instructional
   groupings dictate the materials needed for implementation, which should be
   purchased based on placement test results. As the school year progresses,
   many students may finish their initial program level before the end of the
   school year.  School leaders should anticipate when these students will be
   ready for the next program level and order it with sufficient time so
   instruction that meets each student’s needs can continue seamlessly
   throughout the school year.
   - *Training and teaching occur only after instructional groupings have
   been determined.* Teachers should be trained in the specific level of
   the program that matches their students’ instructional level.  If teachers
   are not trained in the program level that matches their students’ existing
   skill set, they can be expected to have difficulty delivering the program
   that matches their students’ needs.  For instance, if a teacher has been
   trained in Level C of *Spelling Mastery*
   <https://www.nifdi.org/programs/spelling/spelling-mastery.html>, but the
   students placed into Level B, the teacher will need to receive
   level-specific training of the exercises unique to Level B (such as
   exercises involving the sound-symbol strategy and the spelling of irregular
   words).

The start-of-year process for DI implementations ideally begin in the
spring before the DI program starts.  Placement testing should be completed
by the end of the previous school year to allow ample time for forming
instructional groups, adjusting teaching assignments, ordering materials,
and arranging teacher training.  However, if you are at a school that is
starting this process at the beginning of the school year, perhaps the
greatest concern would be scheduling two full days of training per program
level for the staff.  Typically, the most convenient time to hold this
“preservice”
training <https://www.nifdi.org/services/training/preservice-training.html> is
after the staff returns from summer break but before students arrive for
the start of the school year when there usually is no need to hire
substitutes for the staff members who participate in the training.  If a
school has sufficient resources for hiring substitutes to free up staff for
training or has in-service days already allotted in the school calendar,
the preservice can occur at any time of year – the earlier the better so
students can make strong progress in the DI programs over the course of the
year.

Sometimes following the steps described above can lead to a different
configuration of the DI implementation than the school staff originally
envisaged.  For example, NIFDI recently worked with leaders of a secondary
school in England who wanted to implement *Corrective Mathematics*
<https://www.nifdi.org/programs/mathematics/corrective-math.html> to
students who were behind academically.  They expected that the
implementation would focus on some of the modules (levels) that address
basic math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)
but it would also address basic fractions, the next most advanced module in
the program.  However, when they reviewed the placement test results, so
many students placed into the addition module of the program that the focus
of the implementation was shifted to deal exclusively with addition and
subtraction.

There are circumstances when it’s possible for training to occur
*before* materials
are ordered for specific types of intervention implementations.  For
instance, this year NIFDI is supporting two schools in Ohio that are
implementing *Reading Mastery Signature Edition (RMSE)*
<https://www.nifdi.org/programs/reading/reading-mastery.html> as an
intervention for first graders who are behind in reading.  (It’s most
effective to implement RMSE as core instruction, but implementing RMSE as a
Tier 2 intervention can be effective if all of the requirements of the
program are met, including providing sufficient amount of daily instruction
– discussed in Chapter Eight of *Direct Instruction: A Practitioner’s
Handbook* <https://tinyurl.com/direct-instruction-handbook>.)  Because the
program used for the intervention will definitely be RMSE Grade K, the
materials have been ordered and teachers trained in the program before all
students who are going to be receiving DI at the school have been
identified.

The start-of-the year steps described above are just part of the process
that schools new to DI should follow before implementing DI.  The rest of
Chapter Seven of the *DI Handbook*
<https://tinyurl.com/direct-instruction-handbook> addresses other
“pre-implementation” steps, including:

   - defining the scope of the DI implementation,
   - building consensus among the staff in support of implementing DI,
   - adopting schoolwide management procedures that clarify and reinforce
   behavioral expectations needed for efficient instruction.

If you are at a school that needs help with any of these steps, feel free
to contact NIFDI at info at nifdi.org. I hope everyone reading this is having
a great start to the new year!

Kurt E. Engelmann, Ph.D., President
The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI)

*
<https://www.nifdi.org/training-events/events-calendar/training-event/ca1-2023.html>
*

------------------------------
 <877-485-1973>

Get the most comprehensive guide to implementing DI available –

*Direct Instruction: A Practitioner’s Handbook* (2024),

published by John Catt/Hodder Education

https://tinyurl.com/direct-instruction-handbook

*
<https://www.nifdi.org/training-events/events-calendar/training-event/ca1-2023.html>
*

------------------------------
 <877-485-1973>
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