Direct Instruction Effective School Practices news SARA G. TARVER, Editor, University of Wisconsin, Madison

that cognitive scientists have deter- Practice: A Key to Success mined beyond any shadow of a doubt that students will only remember what they have practiced extensively and that they will remember for the long The number of DI success stories con- to all members of ADI, and indeed to term only that which they have prac- tinues to grow. This issue of DI News all who seek excellence in education, ticed in a sustained way over many includes (a) the stories of two schools by writing many articles about DI and years. This article supports Zig’s long- that received Wesley Becker Excellent generously sharing his many reference standing insistence on firming, firm- School Awards at the 2004 ADI Con- lists with those who seek references for ing, firming and mastery, mastery, ference—Buford Elementary School in various purposes. When you want to mastery. It also highlights the impor- Buford, Georgia and Eisenhut Elemen- find out what is known about a particu- tance of a particular feature of all DI tary School in Modesto, California; (b) lar topic related to DI, just ask Kerry. programs—massed to distributed prac- the story of Mountain View Academy tice. Intensive massed practice of new in Greeley, Colorado; and (c) the sto- All of these success stories rest on the ries of three schools that received shoulders of a group of Oregon profes- continued on page 3 Golden Apple Awards from Educa- sors who have been instrumental in tional Resources, Inc. (a Direct the development and promotion of the Instruction company)—Tippens Ele- research-based practices that we know mentary in Cherokee County, Georgia; today as DI—Doug Carnine, Ed FALL 2004, Volume 4, Number 2 Golden Door Academy in Jersey City, Kame’enui, Zig Engelmann, Deborah In this issue New Jersey; and Franklin Academy in Simmons, and others. Their phenome- Wake Forest, North Carolina. nal success at acquiring funding and A View From Askance conducting research having to do with 3 Many additional success stories are reading, special education, and vio- inherent in the accomplishments of lence prevention is discussed in an 4 ADI News the three people who received 2004 Associated Press article reprinted in Excellence in Education Awards—Lori this issue. 2004 ADI Excellence in Education Awards Agar, Muriel Berkeley, and Karen Davis 5 (see the write-ups of their accomplish- In his ongoing column about technical Changing Their Future: ments in this issue). Time after time, matters of interest to DI teachers, Don 10 Child by Child Lori Agar has demonstrated tremen- Crawford addresses the topic of auto- dous academic growth with her stu- maticity in decoding. In his typical Eisenhut Elementary School: dents as well as the students of other clear and easy-to-read style, Don An Example of the Power 14 of Direct Instruction teachers whom she trained. As Presi- explains some of the complex relation- dent of the Baltimore Curriculum Pro- ships among automatic decoding, oral Golden Apple Awards ject, Muriel Berkeley has played a reading fluency rate, comprehension, 16 leading role in the evolution of DI and listening. In so doing, he makes it schools that now serve as national mod- clear that most reading problems are View From the Top els, for example, City Springs Elemen- decoding problems and that most of 18 tary. Karen Davis, an outstanding our attention needs to be focused on regular and special education teacher, that basic aspect of reading instruction. Automaticity in Decoding has contributed to the success stories 20 of others through her coauthorship of What we must do to ensure that our three Direct Instruction programs as students’ new skills become automatic Oregon Profs Wield Influence well as her extensive teacher-training is addressed in Daniel Willingham’s 22 With Bush endeavors. Kerry Hempenstall, the article titled “Practice Makes Per- Practice Makes Perfect—But recipient of the Wes Becker Research fect—But Only If You Practice Beyond Only If You Practice Beyond Award, has provided a unique service the Point of Perfection.” He tells us 23 the Point of Perfection Direct Instruction News Editor Sara G. Tarver University of Wisconsin, Madison Contribute to DI News:

Editorial Board Kerry Hempenstall Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology DI News provides practitioners, ADI members, the DI community, and those new Victoria, Australia to DI, with stories of successful implementations of DI, reports of ADI awards, Martin Kozloff tips regarding the effective delivery of DI, articles focused on particular types of University of North Carolina, Wilmington instruction, reprints of articles on timely topics, and position papers that address Vicki Snider current issues. The News’ focus is to provide newsworthy events that help us University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire reach the goals of teaching children more effectively and efficiently and commu- ADI Board of Directors nicating that a powerful technology for teaching exists but is not being utilized Bob Dixon in most American schools. Readers are invited to contribute personal accounts of Classical Learning success as well as relevant topics deemed useful to the DI community. General Olympia, Washington areas of submission follow: Susan Hanner Co-Author From the field: Submit letters describing your thrills and frustrations, prob- Creswell, Oregon lems and successes, and so on. A number of experts are available who may be Gary Johnson able to offer helpful solutions and recommendations to persons seeking advice. Co-Author/Independent Consultant Portland, Oregon News: Report news of interest to ADI’s members.

Milly Schrader Success stories: Send your stories about successful instruction. These can be Elk Grove School District short, anecdotal pieces. Elk Grove, California Timothy Slocum Perspectives: Submit critiques and perspective essays about a theme of current Utah State University interest, such as: school restructuring, the ungraded classroom, cooperative Logan, Utah learning, site-based management, learning styles, heterogeneous grouping, Regu- Don Steely lar Ed Initiative and the law, and so on. Oregon Center for Applied Science Eugene, Oregon Book notes: Review a book of interest to members. Cathy Watkins California State University, Stanislaus New products: Descriptions of new products that are available are welcome. Turlock, California Send the description with a sample of the product or a research report validating its effectiveness. Space will be given only to products that have been field- The DI News is published semiannually by tested and empirically validated. the Association for Direct Instruction. The mission of the Association for Direct Tips for teachers: Practical, short products that a teacher can copy and use Instruction, as stated in the by-laws, is to immediately. This might be advice for solving a specific but pervasive problem, a promote the improvement of effective edu- cational methods. data-keeping form, a single format that would successfully teach something The Association for Direct Instruction was meaningful and impress teachers with the effectiveness and cleverness of Direct incorporated in 1981 in the state of Oregon Instruction. for educational purposes. ADI is a non- profit, tax-exempt corporation under Sec- Submission Format: Send an electronic copy with a hard copy of the manu- tion 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code script. Indicate the name of the word-processing program you use. Save drawings and is a publicly supported organization as and figures in separate files. Include an address and email address for each defined in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and 509(a)(1). Donations are tax-deductible. author. A copy or summary of the current financial Illustrations and Figures: Please send drawings or figures in a camera-ready statement, or annual report, and registra- form, even though you may also include them in electronic form. tion filed by ADI may be obtained by con- tacting: ADI, P.O. BOX 10252, Eugene, OR Completed manuscripts should be sent to: 97440 (541-485-1293). ADI is registered with the state of Oregon, Department of Amy Griffin Justice, #79-16751. Copyright © 2004 ADI Publications Association for Direct Instruction. P.O. Box 10252 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $25 U. S.; $30 (U. S. currency) Canada; $40 Eugene, OR 97440 Europe; $60 airmail to Europe. Acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript will be sent by email. Articles are (ISSN 1540-0026). initially screened by the editors for placement in the correct ADI publication. If Managing Editor: Amy Griffin appropriate, the article will be sent out for review by peers in the field. These Publisher: The Association for Direct reviewers may recommend acceptance as is, revision without further review, revi- Instruction sion with a subsequent review, or rejection. The author is usually notified about http://www.adihome.org the status of the article within a 6- to 8-week period. If the article is published, Layout and Design: Beneda Design, Eugene, OR the author will receive five complimentary copies of the issue in which his or her article appears.

2 Fall 2004 Practice...continued from page 1 years is essential to the generalized It is important to remember, however, use of the skill. What Willingham calls that this practice feature is but one of skills is required initially (e.g., practice “sustained practice” is very similar to the many features that make DI so of letter–sound correspondences). Sus- what Doug Carnine and his colleagues effective. To experience successes like tained or distributed practice in differ- have advocated as “judicious review.” those described in this issue of DI ent contexts (e.g., sustained practice Make no mistake about it—the kind of News, teachers must use the complete of the letter–sound correspondences in practice that Willingham advocates is DI programs and deliver all of the a variety of words) over a period of inherent in DI. parts with expertise and integrity.

BOB DIXON

tile. Without doubt, public schools that are fine are…fine.

Setting aside charter schools for a moment, the performance of the worst Charter or Not: Curriculum Counts! 25% or so schools is unconscionable. With rare exceptions, the status quo goes on and on and on. Schools and schools of education and professors Talk radio in the greater Seattle area comparing “charter schools” and “pub- and nearly anyone with determination has been interesting lately. Washington lic (noncharter) schools.” advance theories on how to fix the low has had at least a couple of referen- socioeconomic (SES) schools. Almost dums written to enact charter schools Discussing whether charter schools are nothing works. Most obviously, throw- in this state. Via the mechanism of ref- a good thing or not isn’t much differ- ing more money per se at those schools erendums, the voters have consistently ent than discussing whether any makes no noticeable difference at all. chosen to defeat charter schools. schools are good or not. If there is an Recently, the state legislature stepped inherent potential in most charter To my thinking, the top priority is fix- in and enacted charter school legisla- schools for excellence or for academic ing the low SES schools, using any tion. This makes for lively—if overly child abuse, my view is that given the means available. You can call this point simplistic—talk radio. additional flexibility of charter schools, of view considerate conservatism or they have the potential of being social liberalism. You can justify it I hear arguments about whether char- among either the best or worst of completely on economic grounds ter schools are good or bad, and about schools. That is, the range of worst-to- because the cost of dealing with uned- whether they somehow damage the best might be a bit wider on both ends ucated people is astronomical. You can public schools. The latter always seem of the spectrum because those running justify it completely on humanitarian particularly strange because charter the school have a little more flexibility grounds because denying a basic edu- schools are public schools. Advocates than noncharter public schools to do a cation to millions of children in this usually point that out pretty clearly, great job or a really lousy job, or any- country is despicably cruel. and opponents ignore it altogether. thing in between. With those thoughts in mind, it’s no Both advocates and detractors of char- If all were going well in the vast major- wonder that just about any proposed ter schools like to cite “research on ity of regular public schools, there solution gets placed differently along a charter schools.” We have to remind wouldn’t be much of an impetus for political spectrum, irrespective of the ourselves, first, that each state has its charter schools (or for vouchers and fact—in my view, of course—that there own charter school law. Some states the like). Opponents of charter schools is nothing inherently political about pro- have “better” laws and some “worse,” sometimes cite evidence, such as SAT viding poor children with a good educa- by whatever criteria, but generally scores over a period of years, that on tion. On average, a good education speaking, each state has different char- average, the public schools are doing doesn’t cost more than a poor one. No ter school legislation. The variability in okay. Irrespective of technical prob- one is hurt when poor children receive a charter school laws alone would make lems involved in comparing different good education. No one advocates any- me a bit reluctant to pay much atten- tests, this type of average information thing other than improving upon the tion to research that throws all charter seems marginally useful. We should be education of poor children. schools together. The variability of raising the average by raising the charter schools within a given state is a achievement of those students who Advocacy is one thing, but knowledge pretty overwhelming confound for linger in and around the bottom quar- is something else altogether. The tiny,

Direct Instruction News 3 crucial details of effective instruction and has accumulated more evidence of cessful at making and sustaining dra- involved in nearly continuous interac- effectiveness than any other instruc- matic improvement in achievement. I tions between teachers and students tional approach. But this is less an also like charter schools that do the are by far the most critical require- advertisement for DI than an illustra- same thing. I also like Catholic or ments for dramatically (and effi- tion of the specific nature of solutions other parochial schools that do the ciently) improving the achievement of to specific problems. same thing. Or alternative schools. Or low SES students. More time for magnet schools. Any schools. instruction and more money for train- So, what does this have to do with ing and monitoring teachers are cer- charter schools? Nothing, directly. It’s On the radio, they’re talking about tainly desirable, but without the senseless to propose charter schools as charter schools frequently. They effective and efficient instruction, a general solution to specific problems. almost never discuss anything that they’re pretty meaningless. It makes sense only to get DI or some- directly impacts the effectiveness of thing very much like it, if there is such any kind of school—period. Charter General solutions don’t solve problems a thing, into schools, including espe- schools are not goals; they are one that are highly specific in nature. cially (to me) low SES schools, and to possible means to a significant goal. Direct Instruction has been demon- do so any way possible. In short, I like I’m afraid the details required for strating its effectiveness and efficiency ordinary public schools in low SES achieving that goal don’t make for in low SES schools for over 30 years communities if they are highly suc- good talk radio.

BRYAN WICKMAN, Executive Director, Association for Direct Instruction

the various attractions (or distractions ADI News as some call them) in the late after- noon and evening.

Our next event was the 30th National I hope that your school year has gotten approaches and do not have a prede- DI Conference and Institutes in off to a good start and that your summer termined agenda. If we can help make Eugene. This was a very special con- was pleasant. I would like to highlight a these people aware of what can be ference from many standpoints. For few of the activities that the Association done in our schools perhaps more starters, there were 650 participants for Direct Instruction has been involved inroads can be made in improving the from around the country. Actually, in over the past several months. education of our children. around the world is more accurate, as people traveled from Australia, Guam, In April our entire staff (Amy, Erica, Next came the summer marathon of and American Samoa to receive train- and I), along with Bob Dixon (the training conferences sponsored by ing. Chris Doherty, Director of Read- spelling guy), Tom Flom and Wes ADI. Our first conference of the sum- ing First from the Office of Robb (two SRA retiree guys), attended mer was the Southeast Conference. Elementary and Secondary Education the Council for Exceptional Children The event was held at the Radisson at in Washington, DC was the opening Convention in New Orleans. We the Entrance to Universal Studios. keynote speaker. He gave what was recruited new members to ADI as well Folks came in from all over the coun- rated by long-time attendees (and as talked to many of our existing mem- try, taking advantage of the quality trainers) as the best keynote they had bers. Right after the CEC Convention training sessions in the daytime and heard since…well, just insert your Ed Schaefer and Molly Blakely con- ducted a DI Leadership session. We had 170 participants—our largest Leadership session ever!

We also displayed at the Association for Behavior Analysis conference in Boston. This conference is tradition- ally held over Memorial Day weekend. There were about 2,000 attendees. What is encouraging about this confer- ence is that most attendees are stu- dents in masters or doctoral programs. They have a sincere interest in learn- ing more about effective instructional Scene from the Excellence in Education awards dinner.

4 Fall 2004 Also in Eugene we had the honor of Then on to Baltimore for the Atlantic hosting Dr. Kerry Hempenstall. He is Coast Conference. This event was on sabbatical from his teaching position held at a hotel two blocks from the in Australia and included a stop in inner harbor area and right next to the Eugene on his itinerary. Kerry pre- Orioles Ballpark at Camden Yards. On sented a session on Research on DI and two of the days they were playing and made himself quite available to anyone many participants took the chance to that wanted to talk to him. We are so see the Birds beat Texas and Anaheim. fortunate that he would come the great distance to present at our event. We are now in the midst of our fall schedule. ADI has the pleasure of part- On a personal note, I was overwhelmed nering with SRA in offering the Carmel at the Excellence in Education awards DI Conference (30 years running) as dinner when I was recognized for my well as a series of Peer Mentoring Trainings throughout the country. Bob Dixon presents Betsy Primm with a Wes 25 years of work in support of DI. I was Becker Excellent School Award for Buford presented with a beautiful crystal tro- We are now making plans for our sum- Elementary. phy by the Board of Directors and a plaque from our local lodging associa- mer 2005 training program. At this time favorite superlative here. He was tion. Unfortunately I was not informed we plan on conferences in Eugene, great. If you didn’t get a chance to Chicago, Colorado Springs, Baltimore, that this was going to happen and I was see him, or if you did see him but and Orlando. Dates will be finalized in left speechless. Those of you who would like to get a copy of his talk as November. Check our webpage at know me find this unbelievable, but well as Zig Engelmann’s opening, you adihome.org for announcements. just ask anyone who was there. I was can look on page 32 for ordering stunned. If I had had my wits about details. Another high point at the Please know that we stand ready to help me I would have thanked my Board of conference was that Zig Engelmann our members in any way reasonably pos- Directors for their support, Zig for his was able to participate. Zig is always sible. Please do not hesitate to call or so generous with his time at the con- mentoring, my family for their toler- email us to request assistance. It truly is ference and we appreciate it very ance, and the membership of ADI for a pleasure to be of service to you. much. This year was a bit more of an the opportunity to serve them. I think imposition than in the past as he was I only got like two out of those four out in just the third month of recovery of my mouth. from major back surgery. After endur- ing months of pain he finally had no After the Eugene conference we went choice but surgery, which left one of to Chicago for the Midwest DI Con- his legs greatly diminished. But he ference. There were 140 participants, was not going to miss the conference mostly from Ohio and Kentucky. In and a chance to be with the educators fact, Mill Creek School in Louisville that work so hard to make his vision sent 35 attendees. On the second day of a quality education for all learners a they all wore their official school shirt. reality. He continues to improve, and It was neat to see so many teachers in I am certain that by next conference a building all on the same page and he will have put the cane aside and working together to learn the details of Zig Engelmann presents an award at the fully recovered. how to teach their students. awards dinner.

Awards given included Excellence in 2004 ADI Excellence in Education Awards Education, the Wes Becker Excellent School Award, and the Wes Becker Research Award. Biographical sketches Through our awards program, the Asso- sionalism in delivering the type of of the awards recipients appear below. ciation for Direct Instruction recognizes instruction they know will be effective Two schools were recognized this year the educational contributions of individ- with students. A special awards dinner uals and schools utilizing Direct Instruc- was held at the 30th Annual National based on the achievement of their stu- tion. This year’s recipients demonstrate Direct Instruction Conference in dents, and two separate articles about perseverance, dedication, and profes- Eugene, Oregon to honor the recipients. those schools follow.

Direct Instruction News 5 The schools and organizations Detroit Advantage Academy Leavenworth Public Schools listed below are institutional mem- Detroit, Michigan Leavenworth, Kansas bers of the Association for Direct The Douglas Academy Littleton Preparatory Charter School Instruction. We appreciate their North York, Ontario, Canada Littleton, Colorado continued support of quality edu- cation for students. Dr. Norman Bethune Campus Lost River Elementary Calgary, Alberta, Canada Bowling Green, Kentucky Adamsville Elementary School East Side Charter School Montgomery Public Schools Atlanta, Georgia Wilmington, Delaware Montgomery, Mississippi AL HOPE Inc. Educational Resources, Inc. Morningside Academy Columbus, Ohio Cape Coral, Florida Seattle, Washington Alice M. Curtis Campus Fort Bragg Unified School District Mountain View Academy Calgary, Alberta, Canada Fort Bragg, California Greeley, Colorado Alpha System Foundations for the Future Charter Otter Creek Institute Des Moines, Iowa Academy Altoona, Wisconsin Calgary, Alberta, Canada Altar Valley School District Park Elementary School Tucson, Arizona Frank Elementary School Corning, Arkansas Kenosha, Wisconsin American Somoa Department of Edu- Peterson Elementary School cation Franklin Academy Montgomery, Alabama Wake Forest, North Carolina Pago Pago, Tutuila, American Somoa Randolph Magnet Elementary School Baltimore Curriculum Project Inc. Fred Douglass Elementary School Chicago, Illinois Gretna, Louisiana Baltimore, Maryland Renfrew Campus The Barclay School #54 Gering Public Schools Calgary, Alberta, Canada Gering, Nebraska Baltimore, Maryland Riverside Academy Beatrice Public Schools Golden Door Charter School Cincinnati, Ohio Jersey City, New Jersey Beatrice, Nebraska Rockford School District 205 Bethel School District #52 Hattiesburg School District Rockford, Illinois Hattiesburg, Mississippi Eugene, Oregon SRA McGraw-Hill Big Lake Elementary Hawthorn School District 73 Moorestown, New Jersey Vernon Hills, Illinois Big Lake, Alaska Saint Anthony School Burlington Area School District Heritage Academy Milwaukee, Wisconsin North Augusta, South Carolina Burlington, Wisconsin Santa Fe Public Schools Cache Valley Learning Center Hinckley Finlayson School District Santa Fe, New Mexico Hinckley, Minnesota Logan, Utah School District of Colfax Carrollton City Schools Hinsdale Community CSD 181 Colfax, Wisconsin Hinsdale, Illinois Carrollton, Georgia SELPA, Monterey County Center Academy Humboldt Park School Salinas, California Flint, Michigan Milwaukee, Wisconsin Shelby County Board of Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy The Institute for Effective Education Education/Special Services Center Colorado Springs, Colorado San Diego, California Alabaster, Alabama Chief Leschi Schools J/P Associates St. Lawrence Campus Puyallup, Washington Valley Stream, New York Calgary, Alberta, Canada Chipman Middle School Jackson Elementary Sto-Rox School District Alameda, California Medford, Oregon McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania Chisago Lakes Area Schools ISD 2144 James Irwin Charter Schools Sussex County Public Schools Lindstrom, Minnesota Colorado Springs, Colorado Sussex, Virginia Claiborne Parish Schools Jefferson Elementary School 21st Century Preparatory School Haynesville, Louisiana Monticello, Florida Racine, Wisconsin Coan Middle School Kalamazoo Advantage Academy USU Research Foundation Atlanta, Georgia Kalamazoo, Michigan North Logan, Utah CompuTaught Keaau Elementary School Village of Excellence Academy Marietta, Georgia Keaau, Hawaii Tampa, Florida Corning High School Laurel Nokomis School Wilkinson County Board of Education Corning, Arkansas Nokomis, Florida Irwinton, Georgia

6 Fall 2004 Another special serves as a curriculum trainer for sev- programs and used them in their own award was given eral DI programs. In reading the let- classrooms. Lori did an excellent job as this year to the ters of reference that accompanied the one of our master teachers and Executive Director nomination of Lori for this award, it is through her association with our many of the Association quite clear that Lori is an “outstanding talented presenters (Direct Instruc- for Direct Instruc- instructional leader.” tion trainers and authors from Eugene) tion, Bryan Wick- she became more proficient in the use man. Bryan Janet Reinhardtsen of the programs, the foundational prin- celebrated his 25th of Kent School ciples of the program, and the year of working Bryan Wickman District in Kent, research. with and promoting Washington wrote Direct Instruction. Bryan began his the following essay In the years that followed I often used career with Direct Instruction as an in support of Lori’s Lori as a trainer; she did excellent intern for Engelmann Becker Corpora- recognition. work for the ESD in Corrective Reading tion at the age of 17. While at Engel- workshops. She also became involved in working with Bernie Kelly in piloting mann Becker he performed various It is with pleasure some of the higher levels of Connecting tasks such as mail clerk and office and enthusiasm Lori Agar Math Concepts in her sixth-grade class. manager, and he also worked in the that I nominate Because Lori was a very respected layout and design and programming of Lori Agar for the Association for Direct teacher within her school district she the instructional programs. Through Instruction Excellence in Education was often placed in positions of influ- these various roles he learned a great Teacher of the Year Award. I first knew ence, and as a part of the Math Cur- deal about the curricular design of the Lori when she was an undergraduate riculum Committee she worked very DI programs and also the content and special education student in courses I hard (although unsuccessfully) to have the many other details about the pro- Connecting Math Concepts adopted as grams. For the past 23 years, Bryan has their district elementary math curricu- been with ADI in many capacities lum. In addition to math, the district since it was formed in 1981 and has As a sixth-grade teacher she did use Spelling Mastery, and again Lori been the Executive Director for the (Lori) would hear from fought a good fight when some in the past 5 years. The culmination of 25 district felt they needed a change. Lori years of working with DI allows Bryan parents and students as they not only used the Direct Instruction to thoughtfully answer technical ques- were graduating from high programs in here special education pro- tions about the programs and assist gram, but worked hard to see that they educators and practitioners in other school where they once again were available to general education stu- ways such as providing references and thanked her for all she had dents. When she became a sixth-grade resources. Generally, if Bryan can’t teacher she brought the programs with help you with a problem, he knows contributed to their her and gained great admiration from just whom to direct you to. Bryan is students’ success. the parents of her students who were responsible for setting up and planning delighted with the progress their stu- the regional conferences that ADI runs dents were making in school. As a throughout the year. He spends a sig- sixth-grade teacher she would hear nificant amount of time traveling and taught at Central Washington Univer- from parents and students as they were often comments that he feels quite sity. I became reacquainted with her graduating from high school where they fortunate in his work in that he is able when I became the special education once again thanked her for all she had to help so many educators receive the staff development coordinator at ESD contributed to their students’ success. necessary training to effectively imple- 112 in Vancouver, Washington when we ment DI. Congratulations, Bryan, and were operating a summer clinical train- The district Lori worked in adopted a thank you for your continued efforts. ing program where we trained approxi- very constructivist philosophy in the mately 30 teachers every summer and selection of their programs, teaching, also served over 130 special education and instructional methodology. Two of Excellence in Education students in reading, math, and written the other sixth-grade teachers wrote a language. Lori became one of our grant to combine their classes, move Lori Agar three master teachers; the qualifica- away from the adopted curriculum, and Lori Agar teaches special education at tions were that the master teachers be utilize a more “free floating” student- Cedar Heights Junior High in Coving- well versed in the Direct Instruction directed form of programming for the ton, Washington. She currently utilizes programs and that they were able to next 2 years...Lori also then wrote a the Connecting Math Concepts, Corrective teach and supervise other teachers grant gaining permission to continue Spelling, Corrective Reading, and Reason- learning the programs. We also wanted using all Direct Instruction programs for ing and Writing curricula. Lori also master teachers that believed in the the next 2 years. The district accepted

Direct Instruction News 7 the proposals and let all three teachers combination of a great teacher with a the National Institute for Direct utilize their preferred practices and cur- great curriculum can do to help stu- Instruction, summarize the sentiment riculum. As you might expect, at the dents achieve and reach their full and knowledge felt by many others. end of the year the results of the one potential. She is a great teacher; the group were disastrous, and Lori’s stu- students love her, and the parents Over the past 8 years, Muriel Berkeley dents excelled in all areas, especially believe in her. Her junior high students brought Direct Instruction to tens of math. At the end of the 1st year Lori want her to go with them to the high thousands of Baltimore City students, was called in by her principal and the school because they believe in her and raised the bar of training and profes- district curriculum director and was told they now believe in themselves because sional development for Baltimore City that she could no longer use any Direct teachers, and provided an ego-less of the achievement they have made in Instruction programs; they were no model of leadership based on effective her class. She is a great colleague; she is longer going to be allowed in the dis- practice, compassion, and tenacity to a leader in her school with both general trict. Lori tried to share the test results all who work with her. She also played education and special education teach- but they had no interest in reviewing a significant role in bringing scientifi- them; she was told that she could leave ers. Teachers trust her and listen to her, cally based reading instruction to hun- the district, but she could not use any going to her for advice when students dreds of thousands of students Direct Instruction programs. After pro- are struggling. The administrators in her nationwide through her work with cessing an unsuccessful grievance Lori building respect and admire her skill Reading First. left the district rather than fighting and they listen to her and her strong through continuing grievances to higher educational beliefs, which she backs up In 1995, Muriel was charged by the levels of the district. with knowledge and results. Abell Foundation, the largest funding source of education grants in Balti- Lori has always wanted to learn more more, with finding and bringing the and improve her teaching skills, so she most effective curriculum and prac- has regularly attended conferences, Muriel works unrelentingly tices to the lowest performing schools classes, and workshops to improve her to put students, teachers, and in Baltimore City. She started the Bal- teaching. Lori has attended the Direct timore Curriculum Project (BCP) and Instruction conference in Eugene for administrators in the best currently serves as its president. Her many years, and it was at the confer- possible situation to succeed. search led her to Direct Instruction. ence the summer after Lori was forbid- Because of her persistence, leadership, den to use the programs that she was and heart-felt belief that DI would offered and took a job with Advantage benefit our students, 18 Baltimore Schools in Albany, New York. There The achievement of Lori’s students is City schools voluntarily adopted DI. she did a tremendous job, training her top priority, and she believes in She saw achievement soar in many teachers in Direct Instruction, group- the results she gets with the Direct schools, and many people would have ing students, monitoring performance, Instruction programs and the research been happily satisfied. However, and working with parents. I observed behind the programs. Muriel saw many schools’ efforts to her kindergarten students reading well implement the programs hindered by and finishing Reading Mastery II. The Dr. Muriel Berkeley requirements—conflicting at worst, next year she moved to the Advantage Muriel Berkeley is time-wasting at best—imposed by the School in Detroit, Michigan, where she the president of the local school administration. After again led her teachers and enabled Baltimore Curricu- months of team building, lobbying, them to make tremendous progress lum Project in Bal- informing, and enlisting parents, three with their students. The school was timore, Maryland. schools were allowed to have BCP turned over to another company, and She is a former serve as their “operator,” effectively once more Lori faced directors who classroom teacher removing a layer of control and bureau- wanted to use a different curriculum who helped bring a cracy hampering Direct Instruction despite the growth the students had full immersion DI implementations. made with Direct Instruction. model to 18 schools Muriel Berkeley in Baltimore. The schools operated by BCP, with The last 2 years Lori has been a special Muriel at the head, have thrived. City education teacher in the Kent School Springs is known nationwide for its Pages of letters were written elaborat- District in Kent, Washington, where she stellar academic performance and near has introduced Corrective Reading, Con- ing on Muriel’s dedication and miraculous assent from the bottom of necting Math Concepts, and Corrective absolute commitment to Direct the achievement bucket. Hampstead Spelling to the special education program Instruction; effective teaching prac- Hill was recognized by ADI in 2001 as at her junior high. She is training the tices; and successful students, teach- the School of the Year. Collington other teachers to use the programs, and ers, and schools. The pages written by Square is well on its way to becoming she models well for other staff what the Laura Doherty, a project director for a model school, and two of its students

8 Fall 2004 were recognized this week by the Pres- Karen Davis For almost 40 years, Karen has devoted ident of the United States for their Karen Davis herself to providing the most effective success in reading. recently retired and successful instructional experience possible for all children. Many thou- after beginning her sands of children have been influenced Muriel works unrelentingly to put stu- teaching career in by her work: those in her classroom, dents, teachers, and administrators in Providence, Rhode those whose teachers she has trained, the best possible situation to succeed. Island in 1967. She and those whose teachers use pro- She is constantly seeking out and bring- retired from Crest grams she has helped to create. She ing the best professional development Drive Elementary has quietly made a significant differ- to Baltimore and invites anyone who is in Eugene, Oregon. Karen Davis ence in these children’s lives, helping interested in participating. She success- Throughout her them to be academically successful fully lobbied Mr. Wickman to bring the career, Karen served as a teacher, con- and ensuring that they are well on east coast ADI conference back to Balti- sultant, and local coordinator for Pro- their way to success in their future more so that teachers here would not be ject Follow Through. She has taught in school and life experiences. hindered in getting the excellent train- a variety of schools with all ages of ing they need and want. She convinced children. In Eugene, she has taught Karen has taught in special education Dr. Reid Lyon and Ed Schaefer, among both special and regular education, others, to speak at symposiums offered and general classroom settings in a by BCP to inform and inspire teachers variety of schools with all ages and is a master teacher of all DI programs. Stu- interested in learning more about mak- For almost 40 years, ing our students successful. She enables dents in her classroom love coming to coaches, teachers, and administrators to Karen has devoted herself school. Each day, they are provided with a rich experience, in which they travel around the country to various to providing the most school sights offering models of excel- are allowed to demonstrate their profi- ciency in reading, math, and language lence with Direct Instruction and effective and successful arts. In both of my daughter’s first- unique training opportunities. instructional experience grade classes with Karen, there were at least 10 students with virtually no Dr. Berkeley’s profound impact on the possible for all children. reading skills at the beginning of students in Baltimore City cannot be school. By June, every one of these overstated. The 18 schools using DI children was a strong reader, most at have led the way in raising achieve- Grades K–8. She is an author on the the third-grade level. The students in ment in our primary grades. For the Horizons Reading program, Reasoning and both of these classes who were earlier first time in decades, the median read- Writing, and Your World of Facts. She is identified as at risk or in need of spe- ing score for Baltimore City first also a consultant with the National cial education did not need these serv- graders was above the 50th percentile. Institute for Direct Instruction. ices by the end of the school year. It was the leadership shown by the Karen’s strong teaching made their dis- Baltimore Curriculum Project imple- Like the other award recipients for abilities disappear! menting Direct Instruction that put this year, Karen’s nomination was pressure on the school administration supported by a host of letters by a Students in Karen’s classes know that to adopt another scientifically based variety of people in different roles. they will also be socially successful. program, Open Court. Ann Glang, of the Oregon Center for They simply don’t have behavior prob- Applied Science, aptly summarized lems. They are taught how to behave I admire Dr. Berkeley more than I can the thoughts of many with the fol- and embrace each day for their say. The things that she has made hap- lowing words. progress toward developing positive pen in Baltimore City astound me. social behaviors. Although Karen has Her integrity, compassion for students, I am nominating Karen for an ADI had a number of students identified as teachers, and administrators show that Excellence in Education award for autistic, behavior disordered, emotion- she is an exceptional human being. I her lifetime contribution to Direct ally disturbed, and learning disabled in have spent so much time in this letter Instruction and to the education of her classroom, these students are vir- talking about what Muriel has accom- thousands of children. As a DI tually indistinguishable from students plished that I’ve neglected to state teacher, trainer, and higher education without disabilities in her class. Karen what a joy it is to work with Muriel. faculty member, and perhaps most provides the support, structure, and She is exceptionally intelligent, fair, importantly, as the lucky parent of caring needed to help these students fun, reflective, supportive, and ener- two children who had Karen as a meet her very high expectations. getic. Perhaps, in light of all the won- first-grade teacher, I believe she is derful things Muriel has done for one of the most outstanding teachers Although the majority of Karen’s work education in this city and this country, I have ever had the pleasure of has been in suburban schools, she has all of that goes without saying. watching teach. also demonstrated her proficiency in

Direct Instruction News 9 teaching and consulting with low- failure developed approaches.” To that end, Kerry has income populations. As a Follow during his early written articles that have been pub- Through teacher, consultant, and coor- years as a secondary lished in the Australian Journal of Learn- dinator, she consistently demonstrated school teacher. He ing Disabilities, Behaviour Change, Direct excellence in helping disadvantaged is interested in pre- Instruction News, Educational Psychology, children excel. This has continued ventative and reme- and Effective School Practices, among oth- over the past 35 years, with her most dial education ers. He is an invited referee on several recent work in Hawaii with students programs, as well as peer-reviewed publications including in low-income schools. effective strategies the Australian Journal of Learning Disabili- for initiating, main- Kerry Hempenstall ties, Behaviour Change, Educational Psychol- Perhaps the broadest impact of Karen’s taining, and evalu- ogy, and the Journal of Direct Instruction. devotion to excellence in teaching is ating intervention seen in the programs she has helped to programs in the school setting. In his Subscribers to the DI listserv are quite create. Each day, teachers throughout acceptance speech, Kerry described his familiar with Kerry’s impressive ability the country use Horizons, Reasoning and journey in coming to know Direct to provide references on Direct Writing, and Your World of Facts with Instruction. He described himself pre- Instruction research as well as other their students. Teachers using these DI as “unconsciously incompetent” in facets of education. Kerry’s responses programs, which are proven successful that he didn’t know how little he to inquiries posted on the listserv are like all DI programs, are making a dif- knew, but as a “math/science person” always thoughtful, thorough, and con- ference each day for their students. he knew that the vague nonsense he cise, and the extensive references he was hearing about “relationships” and provides allow interested parties to Sometimes individuals like Karen, who “individual learning styles” was also substantiate their claims to effective are quietly competent, each day going not computing. “Then Wes Becker instructional strategies, as well as about the business of making a differ- arrived on the scene,” he says and he queries regarding the details of ence in the lives of children, go unrecog- was on his way to becoming “con- instruction and specific results with nized. I am hoping that the ADI awards sciously competent” and after studying students. Kerry also presented a ses- committee will recognize her amazing Theory of Instruction, “unconsciously accomplishments, and acknowledge her sion at the 2004 National Direct contributions with a lifetime career competent.” Instruction Conference titled, award for Excellence in Education. “Research on Direct Instruction,” Kerry has authored numerous articles which described the research base for and research papers related to Direct Direct Instruction and included an Instruction since that time. His major examination of Project Follow Through Wesley Becker interest area involves reading failure, as well as other research on the effec- Excellence in Research phonological processes, and Direct tiveness of specific DI programs. Instruction, and he writes articles Dr. Kerry Hempenstall related to teaching and learning. On his You can access Kerry’s Web site at Kerry Hempenstall is a professor in the Web site he says that, “I am concerned http://www.rmit.edu.au/departments/ department of Psychology and Disabil- that educational decision-making is too ps/staffpgs/hempens.htm to learn more ity Studies at the Royal Melbourne often neglectful of empirical research about Kerry, view his extensive refer- Institute of Technology in Victoria, findings, in favour of fashionable, ence list as well as titles of articles he Australia. Kerry’s interest in school attractive but unsubstantiated has authored.

BETSY PRIMM, Georgia Learning Resources System

Wesley Becker Excellent School Award rial program that has been conducted daily by high school students. The DI Changing Their Future: Child by Child reading program has required a fairly short amount of training time for the tutors, has been inexpensive to pur- chase and implement, and has pro- As a teacher and administrator in both extensive staff development training duced remarkable results in the 4 public and private education for the to implement properly, and produced years it has been used. last 37 years, I have seen numerous disappointing results. Buford Elemen- instructional programs come and go. tary School in Buford, Georgia has pio- Buford Elementary School was the Many of the programs have been very neered the use of a one-on-one, first public school in Georgia to initi- expensive to purchase, required Direct Instruction (DI) reading tuto- ate a daily tutorial program in which

10 Fall 2004 high school tutors used Teach Your Child There were several reasons why our is attractive, inviting, welcoming, to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engel- GLRS staff considered Buford Elemen- and orderly. The teaching staff is mann, Haddox, and Bruner to instruct tary School to be a prime candidate for comprised of a good balance of selected elementary school students in the piloting of the DI tutorial program. young teachers and veteran teach- reading skills. The effect of this inno- ers. The veteran teachers have vative DI project has been astounding • Buford Elementary, a Title I school, taught many of their current stu- in terms of direct student benefit. It is part of a small school system dents’ parents. comprised of a diverse population. has also fostered the adoption and use • The faculty and administrators at of a number of commercial DI pro- The student body is 52% Cau- casian, 32% Hispanic, and 15% Buford Elementary School have a grams in the Buford City School Sys- African American. reputation for being open to explor- tem and has been successfully ing innovative programs to meet the replicated in other public school sys- • The Buford City School System is needs of the school’s economically, tems in the state. composed of four schools. There- racially, and ethnically diverse stu- fore, every K–2 public school stu- dent population. What Started It All? dent residing in Buford attends Buford Elementary School. Buford Elementary School’s culture of The idea for establishing the DI tuto- competence and caring, combined rial project using Teach Your Child to with the above-stated factors, made it Read in 100 Easy Lessons originated from an excellent candidate for establishing a casual comment made by the late Dr. In spite of our the DI reading tutorial program. The Marie Keel from Georgia State Univer- implementation problems and school received a $10,000 Capacity- sity during the course of a 3-day read- challenges, all but one student Building grant through Metro East ing seminar she conducted in January GLRS, and the DI reading tutorial 1999. While discussing the features of that was tutored scored at or program began in October 2000. various commercial DI programs, Dr. above grade level on the Keel happened to mention the avail- Year One: Problems ability of the book Teach Your Child to Woodcock Reading Mastery and Progress Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann, Test—R, Form G at the end The 1st year of the project implemen- Haddox, and Bruner as a resource for tation was a challenging and exciting parents. She said it contained every- of the school year. one. The elementary school teachers thing a parent needed to say and do to were understandably skeptical about teach a beginning reader to read. I the program because there was no • Buford Elementary School and asked Dr. Keel if she thought that high other DI program being used at that Buford High School are less than a time in the entire school system. The school students could use the $25.00 mile apart. This proximity is con- first positive step that occurred was book to tutor primary grade children. ducive to high school students’ that the program was given a name: She said that she thought that it might being able to travel easily back and the SRA Tutorial Program. The faculty be possible to use the book for that forth between the two schools. purpose. That brief conversation was was familiar with SRA reading labs, the genesis of the DI reading tutorial • Because of the small size of the and the cover of Teach Your Child to Read project that would significantly impact school system (2,193 students), in 100 Easy Lessons prominently states that the book is an adaptation of a pro- the curriculum of Buford Elementary many of the teachers and students in the elementary and high schools gram published by SRA. Using SRA in School and change the direction of my know each other. There is a true the program title gave the program professional life. school/community bond both credibility with the faculty. Also, the between the two schools and title was short and easy to remember. In July 2000, the Metro East Georgia between the school system and the A program supervisor was appointed at Learning Resources System (GLRS), city residents. the elementary school and at the high the state agency for which I work, was school, and each was paid a $1,000 • The Metro East GLRS staff and allowed to seek competitive grants to stipend for the year to oversee the the Buford City School System staff implement new programs to build the daily after-school implementation of have had a long, positive working academic capacity of public schools in the program and to communicate with relationship. Georgia. The Metro East GLRS Cen- each other as needed. Had it not been ter staff approached Buford City • Buford Elementary School has an for the dedication of Mrs. Lynn Lane, school personnel to discuss the possi- enrollment of approximately 408 the second-grade teacher who also was bility of initiating a daily DI reading students in kindergarten through the SRA tutorial program supervisor at tutorial program partnership between second grade. The school is defined the elementary school, the project Buford Elementary School and Buford by friendliness, security, compe- would not have continued beyond its High School. tence, and caring. The environment 1st year.

Direct Instruction News 11 High school tutors were chosen to 2001–Present: Getting dealing with the tutors because she work 1 hour after school and were paid and Keeping the DI Reading was the person who determined $5.50 daily from the grant funds. The Tutorial Act Together each tutor’s grade in the students’ students selected to be tutored were During the summer before the start of Work-Study class. all enrolled in the after-school “Wolf the 2001–02 school year, selected staff • Teachers, counselors, and adminis- Pack” program that the elementary and administrators from Buford High trators worked together to adjust school offered, and they had been School, Buford Elementary School, and schedules of both high school tutors identified as needing reading help by Metro East GLRS met on several occa- and elementary school struggling the child’s first- or second-grade sions and made the following changes readers. The project supervisors teacher. Mrs. Lane, the tutorial pro- in the program: from the two schools agreed to work gram supervisor, also was the supervi- closely with each other and with • The teacher for the Work-Study sor of the “Wolf Pack” program. Each the school administrators to mini- Program at the high school became tutor was assigned two students with mize potential miscommunication the high school supervisor. She was whom the tutor worked on a one-on- and maximize instructional time on assigned the responsibility for task during each tutorial session. one basis for approximately 30 minutes selecting and overseeing the high daily. The Metro East GLRS staff pro- school tutors. With these changes in place, the tuto- vided DI training to the tutors, known rial program began in August 2002 and as “reading buddies,” and provided on- is still operational on a daily basis. going follow-up coaching and support The results of this pioneering Beginning with the 2nd year of the throughout the year both to the tutors program, each elementary school stu- and to the faculty members supervis- effort by Buford Elementary dent in the program was administered ing the tutorial project. School have been beyond a standardized pre- and posttest. The anyone’s expectation. They tests used were selected subtests of The most important lessons the tuto- the Woodcock Reading Mastery rial program implementers learned have been far-reaching not Test—R, Forms G and H. Both the during the pilot year were that the only for the students pre- and posttests were given by a program worked and that changes staff member from Metro East GLRS. needed to be made the following year. involved but in a number of The posttest was administered as The changes that needed to be other ways as well. soon as possible after a child com- addressed were as follows: pleted the last lesson of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. • Better screening of tutors at the • The time of the tutorial program high school was changed so as to occur during Results the school day. The elementary The results of this pioneering effort by • More involvement by the high school teachers agreed to this deci- Buford Elementary School have been school supervisor to address tutor sion because of the progress experi- beyond anyone’s expectation. They absences, appropriate dress, and enced by their students who were have been far-reaching not only for the conduct tutored the previous year, and it students involved but in a number of allowed the elementary teachers to • Enhancing the motivation for high other ways as well. The results are dis- select students for tutoring who school students to become involved cussed below. couldn’t stay after school due to with the program. Money wasn’t transportation issues. enough of a motivator. For the Buford Elementary • The criteria for selection of tutors Students Completing the DI In spite of our implementation prob- was tightened to include a recom- Reading Tutorial: lems and challenges, all but one stu- mendation by a candidate’s teacher, As of May 25, 2003 a total of 42 stu- dent that was tutored scored at or no record of excessive absences, and dents had completed all the lessons in above grade level on the Woodcock no record of serious or persistent the Engelmann, Haddox, and Bruner Reading Mastery Test—R, Form G at behavior problems. book. The overall group summary the end of the school year. These test • High school tutors received Work- report states the following: results, combined with the positive Study class credit for their tutorial evaluations from the children’s class- work and were paid $2.75 per day Average length of time room teachers, convinced Buford Ele- for tutoring one child. This change in the program: 5.22 months mentary School’s principal, Mrs. Joye provided a major incentive for the Merritt, to apply for a $10,000 continu- tutors and gave the high school Average gain in ation grant for the 2000–01 school year. supervisor much more leverage in Word Identification: 8.38 months

12 Fall 2004 Average gain in Passage with the students who were involved tutorial program and from the coopera- Comprehension: 11.69 months with the DI reading tutorial program, tion and professional respect that fac- the kindergarten teachers decided to ulty and administrators exhibit toward As of April 30, 2004 a total of 14 addi- review information on SRA’s Language each other. tional first-grade students have com- for Learning. They met with the princi- pleted the DI tutorial program lessons pal, Mrs. Merritt, who approved imple- In 2003, the Georgia Department of during the 2003–04 school year. The mentation of a pilot program using Education named Buford Elementary average results for these 14 additional Language for Learning with “at-risk” School as a Georgia School of Excel- students are as follows: kindergartners during the 2001–02 lence. According to the Georgia State school year. The pilot program results Superintendent of Schools, Mrs. Average length of time were impressive enough that in Kathy Cox: in the program: 5.25 months 2002–03 Language for Learning became a part of the language arts curriculum This award gives recognition to Average gain in of all nine of the school’s kindergarten schools that are the best of the Word Identification: 9.4 months classes. A pre- and posttest random best in Georgia. Being selected sample measure of 68 of the school’s as a Georgia School of Excellence Average gain in Passage 144 kindergarten students who partici- is one of the highest honors our Comprehension: 14.2 months public schools can receive. These test score gains are even better Buford Elementary is the first school than the gains that students experi- The pilot program results in the Buford City School System ever enced who completed the DI tutorial were impressive enough that to attain this honor. program between August 2001 and May 2003. in 2002–03 Language for Although there are many reasons for Learning became a part of Buford Elementary School’s being hon- For the High School DI “SRA” Tutors: the language arts curriculum ored as a 2003 Georgia School of Excellence, the Selection Review Although there are no quantitative of all nine of the school’s Panel specifically featured the reading scores to measure the impact on the kindergarten classes. tutorial program in the printed Awards high school students who served as the Night state program. Buford Elemen- DI tutors in delivering the contents of tary School’s innovative implementa- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy tion of the DI tutorial program was a Lessons, several qualitative factors are pated in Language for Learning instruc- definite factor in its being recognized significant. tion in their classrooms during the as one of the state’s outstanding pub- 2002–03 school year revealed striking lic schools. Additionally, Mrs. Merritt • One student presented the tutorial results. Specifically, the student test received notification last month that program as her project at the Fam- sample demonstrated a 14.7 percentile Buford Elementary School has won a ily/Community Career Leaders of average gain in the students’ language School Bell Award for its innovative DI America national conference in quotient during the academic year as reading tutorial program. This award is Minneapolis, Minnesota and won measured by the Test of Language given yearly by the Georgia Association the first place gold medal. Development-3, Forms A and B. of Elementary School Principals. • Several tutors received college scholarships partly as a result of the This year Buford Elementary staff has For the Buford City favorable letters of recommendation implemented a pilot program using School System: written by staff from the Metro East SRA’s Language for Thinking DI program GLRS center familiar with the indi- in selected first- and second-grade When the DI reading tutorial program vidual tutor’s responsible, mature classrooms. Although the posttest started in 1999, no school in the entire manner and positive attitude in pre- results of the Language for Thinking pilot Buford school system used any commer- senting the DI tutorial lessons. program are not yet available, teachers cial DI programs. As of this school year, whose classrooms were NOT included Buford Elementary has implemented • The tutors’ own words present the in the pilot program have approached both Language for Learning and Language best evidence to the manner in Mrs. Merritt and requested that they for Thinking and is considering a Funnix which being a DI “SRA” reading be allowed to incorporate Language for tutorial for students with limited Eng- tutor has affected them personally. Thinking into their language arts cur- lish skills. Buford Middle School has riculum next year! The school’s use of adopted Corrective Reading. The Special For Buford Elementary School: both of these DI classroom programs Education Department is also using Because of the positive results that the directly resulted from the successful Reading Mastery Plus as well as Language faculty and administrators observed implementation of the DI reading for Learning and Language for Thinking.

Direct Instruction News 13 For Other School Systems members shared a clear vision, a com- belief among teachers at Buford Ele- in Georgia: mon purpose, and mutual respect for mentary School that DI programs each other’s personal and professional were appropriate for use with the stu- One of the most gratifying results of skills and knowledge. By training the DI reading tutorial program at dents in their classrooms. high school students to deliver effec- Buford Elementary is that it has tive DI reading instruction, the group become a model for other school sys- The strengthened partnership that the avoided the potential problem of tems in Georgia. Two urban elemen- DI reading tutorial program built teacher resistance that school imple- tary schools in neighboring DeKalb between Buford Elementary School menters often encounter when DI County have implemented a tutorial and Buford High School has resulted programs are first introduced in a program for struggling first graders. in teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, school. Certified teachers didn’t feel High school tutors use Teach Your Child and administrators throughout the professionally threatened in any way to Read in 100 Easy Lessons to work with entire school system becoming more by high school tutors. They simply young students who are having diffi- informed about the benefits of DI perceived them as providing extra culty with reading. Several rural school methodology. The quantitative and help for struggling students. systems in Georgia have also imple- qualitative benefits of the DI reading mented the “Buford Model” for DI tutorial program have resulted in new However, when certified teachers saw reading tutorial instruction this aca- implementations of DI programs both for themselves the improvement in demic year and have reported very reading that their students receiving within the Buford City School System positive results. DI tutorial instruction demonstrated, and in other school systems in Georgia. they became interested in the DI Summary methodology. The effectiveness of The inexpensive and relatively easy The successful implementation of the DI tutorial program led to the implementation of a DI reading tuto- the DI reading tutorial program elementary teachers being open to rial program based on the “Buford resulted from the collaboration of two investigating the use of DI commer- Model” has provided a window of representatives each from Buford cial classroom programs such as Lan- opportunity for a school to experience Elementary School, Buford High guage for Learning and Language for the benefit of DI with minimal risk School, and the Metro East Georgia Thinking. The positive results from a and with the potential for great Learning Resources System. This small Language for Learning pilot pro- reward. The possibilities it offers for group of six was able to establish and gram that kindergarten paraprofes- individual students and schools are maintain the program because the sionals implemented developed the truly endless.

PATRICIA ELSTON, Eisenhut Elementary

Wesley Becker Excellent School Award Eisenhut Elementary School is located in Modesto, California, a city of Eisenhut Elementary School: An Example approximately 180,000 in California’s central valley. The enrollment includes of the Power of Direct Instruction approximately 426 students from kindergarten through sixth grade including intermediate-level special day classes. The school, a Target If you ask the staff at Eisenhut Ele- DI’s Reading Mastery I through III and Assisted Title I school, serves a diverse mentary School in Modesto, California Reading Mastery Fast Cycle I/II, Horizons community. Thirty-one percent of the what has made the greatest difference C/D, Language for Learning, Corrective students are Hispanic, 11% African in student learning, they will say Reading Decoding, Corrective Reading Com- American, 10% Asian and Pacific Direct Instruction programs. Since the prehension, Reasoning and Writing, and Islanders, and 44% white. Eleven dif- implementation of Direct Instruction Corrective Mathematics are being used to ferent first languages are spoken by programs there has been a change in accelerate learning for all students. the 104 English learners. With the the way all instruction is being deliv- These programs have enabled students eagle as the mascot, “Soaring to the ered at the school. Teachers at Eisen- to reach their potential. The strategies Limits,” the school motto, exemplifies hut School have incorporated direct that teachers have learned in teaching the spirit of the Eisenhut School com- instruction strategies into the way these programs are carried over into all munity. When the Academic Perfor- they teach each subject and program aspects of the curriculum. There is a mance Indicators showed that the site during the school day. The results have focus on active engagement of all stu- was not meeting its goal, the staff took been impressive. dents as well as mastery learning. a long hard look at its program.

14 Fall 2004 The Effort to Improve including the principal, attended periods for intermediate and primary Change began as part of an effort to training at the ADI Conference and DI groups, help to keep the group size improve scores districtwide in the Institutes in Eugene, Oregon. Eisen- small. All instructors receive training Stanislaus Union School District. The hut staff members were trained in as needed and are coached to assure district was looking for a research vali- specific programs, implementation, program fidelity. Student progress and dated program to meet the needs of its and coaching. They returned eager to group pacing is regularly monitored by struggling students. After much dis- succeed. Their goal was to become a the principal. Groups are flexible to cussion, the District Language Arts school that others come to observe. allow for acceleration or reteaching Committee selected Direct Instruc- With limited funds and without out- when it benefits student learning. tion as an intervention program. The side assistance, the Direct Instruction focus was to be on students in Grades implementation was expanded. One Success hundred percent of the students were 3 and above who demonstrated below- Students are happy and successful placed in Direct Instruction programs grade-level reading skills and on all during their DI period. They are to meet their individual needs. DI was kindergarten through second graders proud of their achievements. Teachers no longer just an intervention pro- in an effort to prevent them from continue to use DI strategies in all of gram, but an integral part of the falling behind. their teaching. At Eisenhut, kinder- school’s daily curriculum. garten teachers direct reading with Eisenhut began in the fall of 2000 with Open Court Readers in the same way Reading Mastery in kindergarten and “DI” as a Daily they teach Reading Mastery. Teachers Reading Mastery Fast Cycle in first and Instructional Block at all levels call for unison responses second grades. Placement tests were Since then the staff at Eisenhut has when teaching programs like Calendar administered and groups were formed. embraced Direct Instruction pro- Math. During any reading period you The Corrective Reading Decoding pro- grams. An on-site Reading Specialist will see students tracking and correct- gram, added in January 2001, was trained at the ADI Summer Institute ing errors in the manner that they do taught to students below the 50th per- in Oregon coordinates the DI pro- in DI programs. centile on the SAT9 in Grades 3 gram to ensure that students are through 6 who placed in the program properly placed and making adequate In the beginning few students com- according to placement test criteria. progress. She provides in-class coach- pleted Reading Mastery Fast Cycle before Two days of training, provided by local ing and uses curriculum based meas- the end of second grade. Many inter- DI trainers who worked for SRA, ures such as DIBELS to assess mediate students were in Corrective helped teachers prepare to teach the student achievement. Reading Decoding B1 and B2. Currently new programs. Coaching was provided the majority of students are on the fast on a limited basis by two teachers on Although the site is required to use track. While most students complete special assignment who were assisted Open Court Reading, 45 uninterrupted Reading Mastery Fast Cycle early in the by Dr. Cathy Watkins in their early minutes of every day are dedicated to second grade, some first graders begin efforts to coach. DI. During that period all students Reading Mastery III during their first- work in small groups at their instruc- grade year. Most second graders are in Eisenhut worked hard to implement tional level. Supplemental staff includ- Reading Mastery III or Horizons C/D DI, but scores from the previous year ing the library aid, as well as separate early in their second-grade year. Very affected the site’s status. In 2000, Eisenhut’s API (Academic Perfor- mance Indicator) was below the goal set by the state. It was declared an API Improvement as a Result of DI underperforming school and began to investigate ways to improve student Before DI Growth as a Result of DI achievement. As the major emphasis of API API API API API its improvement plan, the staff Group Change decided to implement Direct Instruc- 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 tion programs schoolwide in 2001 for All Students 617 619 636 676 733 +116 all students to advance student learn- ing and accelerate achievement. This White, not Hispanic 671 664 674 728 765 +94 had to be done as an addition to the state adopted core reading and lan- guage arts program. The staff was Hispanic students 613 578 637 626 682 +69 determined to make it work. Socioeconomically 515 521 514 628 687 +172 Disadvantaged The summer before full implementa- tion, seven members of the staff,

Direct Instruction News 15 few students in the intermediate level scores were falling. The 1st year of tation for innovation, leadership, and need Corrective Reading Decoding pro- limited implementation showed some creativity. As stated by District Super- grams. Instead, the current emphasis gains. Once DI became part of every intendent Dr. Kathleen Boomer, is on improving writing skills, using child’s educational experience, scores “Eisenhut is a lighthouse for the dis- Reasoning and Writing. began to rise. All groups have shown trict.” Staff members from the librarian significant gains. to the principal are dedicated to con- School scores on California’s STAR assessment and API gains have Driven by its mission, “to educate chil- tinuing teaching DI. They have seen improved so much since the school dren, promote respect for others, and develop the powerful difference it has made in began DI that Eisenhut School was a love of learning in a multi-cultural setting” the academic success of all Eisenhut selected as a California Distinguished and motto, “Soaring to the Limits,” students. DI is a part of the curriculum School in 2004. The year before DI, Eisenhut School has developed a repu- the staff will never give up.

PAUL MCKINNEY, Educational Resources, Inc.

isn’t the place for him or her. Parents Golden Apple Awards choose to send their children to Franklin Academy because they know that DI works for all children. It is so ingrained in our culture that we could- Franklin Academy, are several Direct Instruction (DI) pro- n’t survive without it.” Wake Forest, North Carolina grams implemented on a schoolwide basis: Reading Mastery, Reasoning & Writ- Begun in 1998 as a K–5 public charter From its inception, the Franklin Acad- ing, Spelling Mastery, and Corrective Read- school, the Franklin Academy in Wake emy also chose Educational Resources, ing. Additionally, teachers and assistants Forest, North Carolina now offers a K–10 Inc. (ERI; a highly experienced con- are trained to generalize relevant DI program, as it adds a new grade level sulting group that provides profes- strategies and tactics into other con- each year toward its goal of providing a sional development and hands-on tent areas. “DI is at the core of our cur- comprehensive kindergarten through training, coaching, and assistance to riculum and our school culture,” 12th-grade education. Presently, Franklin DI schools nationwide) to guide explains Denise Kent, Elementary Academy serves more than 700 young- Franklin Academy’s implementation of sters, the majority of whom are Cau- School Administrator. “New teachers DI. As with all our client schools, ERI casian and middle class. are automatically trained in Direct has now trained a cadre of Franklin Instruction, and once they begin seeing Academy staff to provide continuous The school is based upon a set of prin- weekly progress among their students, staff development support and super- ciples that its founder, Robert Luddy, they understand why we are so com- vision, including classroom coaching, calls the “3 D’s”: Direct Instruction, mitted to its process.” Ms. Kent adds to every teacher and assistant. At Discipline, and Dress Code. At the that “if a teacher doesn’t buy into Franklin Academy’s insistence, ERI core of Franklin Academy’s curriculum Direct Instruction’s methodology, this remains involved with the school to enable the staff (especially the school leadership and coaching cadre) to fur- Franklin Academy: Percent of All Students At/Above Grade Level ther refine and enhance their imple- mentation of DI. Again, Ms. Kent: 95 “ERI provides all of us with an oppor- u tunity to gain insight on a more 90 u advanced level than what our internal 85 u coaching is able to offer. It is a time for u 80 our school, teachers, coaches, and administrators to learn up-to-date and 75 improved methods of DI execution, 70 coaching, and supportive supervision. 65 u ERI provides that necessary connec- 60 tion between proper DI methods and Yr. 1: 1999 Yr. 2: 2000 Yr. 3: 2001 Yr. 4: 2002 Yr. 5: 2003 continuous improvement.”

Years of DI and ERI In 1998–99, its inaugural year, 65% of Franklin Academy students scored at

16 Fall 2004 or above grade level on North Car- Happily, the story is not over! As of ERI salutes Brian, Tabitha, and the olina’s rigorous End-of-Grade (EOG) this writing, ERI has trained a cadre of entire staff of Golden Door Charter Assessments. Five years and 500 addi- Golden Door staff (Brian Stiles: Acad- School. You have become an inspiration tional students later (2002–03), 93% emy CEO and Tabitha Madera: Profes- to other schools in America, and a of all Franklin Academy students sional Development Coordinator) to remarkably valuable resource to the stu- scored at or above grade level on the carry forward the leadership and staff dents, parents, and educators of North- EOGs. In the spring of 2003, the state development functions initially shoul- ern New Jersey and New York City. of North Carolina recognized Franklin dered by ERI. “Educational Resources, Academy as a “high growth” school and Inc. has been instrumental in training Tippens Elementary, designated it as a “School of Excel- our teachers with intense instruction Cherokee County, Georgia lence,” the highest award offered to during our August preservice sessions Tippens Elementary is a K–6 public any school in North Carolina. and, very importantly, during monthly school located in Cherokee County, coaching visits to our school,” explains Georgia, less than an hour north of the Clearly, middle-class students need Brian Stiles, CEO of Golden Door booming metropolis of Atlanta. not be satisfied with a middle-class Charter School. Mr. Stiles adds that Though surrounded by obvious signs education. “ERI has also been responsible for of wealth stemming from the robust training our curriculum coaches in the economies of Georgia and Cherokee Golden Door Academy, best and most effective techniques for County, Tippens serves a poor and Jersey City, New Jersey side by side classroom coaching. Con- largely disadvantaged population in Golden Door Charter School is a K–8 sequently, our teachers are well trained which the overwhelming majority of public charter school located in Jersey and very proficient in the curriculum students qualify for Title I services, City, New Jersey, less than 30 minutes implementation of Direct Instruction. and over 80% of students are enrolled from New York City. Golden Door The proof lies in the remarkable aca- in the free/reduced lunch program. serves a poor and largely disadvantaged demic growth of our students.” Almost half of Tippens’ students are population in which the overwhelming majority of students qualify for Title I services, and over 68% of students are Reading/Language Arts: Percent of Grade 4 Students enrolled in the free/reduced lunch pro- Who Meet/Exceed New Jersey State Standards gram. Forty-four percent of Golden Door students are African American, about 41% are Hispanic, with the 80 u u remaining 15% divided among Asian and 60 u Caucasian youngsters. Prior to the intro- 40 duction of DI and the arrival of ERI at 20 u Golden Door, less than 15% of fourth- u grade students met state standards in 0 reading/language arts. The view from Yr. 1: 1999 Yr. 2: 2000 Yr. 3: 2001 Yr. 4: 2002 Yr. 5: 2003 the eighth grade was largely the same. Years of DI and ERI Determined to change this prevalent pattern of education for disadvantaged children, the staff of Golden Door adopted SRA/McGraw-Hill’s Direct Reading: Percent of Grade 4 Students Instruction programs in the fall of Who Meet/Exceed Georgia State Standards 1998. Additionally, they chose ERI to guide Golden Door’s implementation 85 u of Language for Learning, Reading Mas- n un 75 n tery, Corrective Reading, Distar Arithmetic, n and Connecting Math Concepts. 65 u Tippens 55 u n State By the spring of 2003, given 5 years of 45 DI and ERI, 65% of Golden Door’s u 35 fourth graders and 76% of eighth Yr. 1: 2000 Yr. 2: 2001 Yr. 3: 2002 Yr. 4: 2003 graders met or exceeded state stan- dards in reading/language arts. Con- Years of DI and ERI gratulations, one and all!

Direct Instruction News 17 Hispanic, about a third are Caucasian, SRA/McGraw-Hill’s Direct Instruc- peers. However, the story is not over! and the remaining 17% are African tion programs in the fall of 1999. As of this writing, ERI has trained a American. Approximately one third of Additionally, they chose ERI to guide cadre of Tippens’ staff (Linda Tippens’ students speak English as a Tippens’ implementation of Language Cochran: DI Coordinator and Melanie second language. High student mobil- for Learning, Reading Mastery, Corrective Phillips: Literacy Coach) to carry for- ity adds a final challenging factor. Prior Reading, Distar Arithmetic, and Connect- ward all of the leadership and staff to the introduction of DI and the ing Math Concepts. By the spring of development functions heretofore arrival of ERI at Tippens Elementary, 2003, given 4 years of DI and ERI, shouldered by ERI. Though they less than 40% of fourth-grade students 80% of Tippens’ fourth graders and remain with their students, as teach- met state standards in reading, with 72% of sixth graders met or exceeded ers in the classroom they now have less than 20% meeting state standards state standards in reading, while 70% the training and experience to join in math. The view from the sixth of all fourth- and sixth-grade students with the new school leadership to grade was largely the same. Though met or exceeded state standards in refine and enhance the implementa- typical of schools throughout Georgia both language and mathematics. tion of DI—independent of external and the nation that serve students of These dramatically improved levels of assistance and to the advantage of similar demography, such achievement academic competence are now equal every student and staff member. ERI levels were 15% to 40% below the to the rising plane of student salutes Linda, Melanie, and the state average. achievement in the state of Georgia. entire staff of Tippens Elementary Though the playing field remains far School. You have become an inspira- Determined to leave no child behind, from level for the students at Tip- tion to other schools in America, and Principal Lisa Smith and the staff of pens Elementary, they now compete an extraordinarily valuable resource to Tippens Elementary adopted “head-to-head” with their advantaged the entire State of Georgia.

VICTORIA R. MARTINO and FRAN PARMELEE, Mountain View Academy, Greeley, Colorado

old habits are hard to break. This was View From the Top disappointing considering that one of our schools’ goals was to make our stu- dents lifelong learners, and our princi- pal presented all staff members with Mountain View Academy in Greeley, The conference was more enlightening lifelong learner curriculum notebooks. Colorado is an independent, nonprofit, than we could ever have imagined. nondiscriminatory private school that The information seemed to be over- The working environment at our utilizes the Direct Instruction curric- whelming at first but more manageable school became extremely stressful for as the week progressed. By the end of ula. Seven years after the opening of us DI teachers over the next 6 years as the school it qualified for the 2003 the conference we were excited and scared at the same time to return to the school split down the middle. Our National No Child Left Behind Blue coworkers were extremely unprofes- Ribbon School Award. We have been our classrooms to start our new cur- riculum. Could we do it by ourselves sional, and our administration didn’t asked why we founded the school and give us any support. We often bought how it was able to accomplish this; our without the expert guidance of our mentors? As it turned out, we could, our DI materials with our own money article chronicles the answers. and we did. just to keep the program going for our students. A schoolwide meeting was Little did we realize when we Within our public school we started held in our gymnasium, with over a attended The 17th Annual National using Reading Mastery; Connecting Math hundred parents attending; the meet- Direct Instruction Conference in Concepts; Spelling Through Morphographs; ing turned out to be a DI-bashing Eugene, Oregon August 5–9, 1991 that Corrective Reading, Comprehension and fest—parents yelling at parents and it would change the path our lives Decoding; and Reasoning and Writing, and school administrators yelling at every- would take in a way that we never became more effective teachers. Our one to quiet them down to no avail. would have imagined. We were several students were excelling, and our par- This was the turning point; it became seasoned public school teachers eager ents were thrilled with their children’s apparent something had to be done, to find a new, refreshing, and effective progress. The whole language teachers and it could no longer be done within means of helping our students. We had didn’t want anything to do with Direct our public school system. The point read the research about Direct Instruc- Instruction, and a nasty tug of war must be made that there are public tion and wanted to find out for our- developed. They didn’t understand school systems willing to use the DI selves if this teaching strategy was as the program, had no desire to learn curriculum. There should be only one good as it sounded. something new, and felt threatened— distinction between schools: schools

18 Fall 2004 that are highly effective and schools this program, his genius just unfolds practice times tables or any other that aren’t. as you’re teaching. Every year you use facts. There’s nothing wrong with the materials, you get more insight bringing students to mastery before For the next 2 years while teaching in into how it works, and you are more you take them to the next level. our public school system, a few of us in awe of the program than ever What’s so great about Direct Instruc- DI teachers planned and worked with before. It helps you as a teacher to tion is that today’s lesson is the foun- an attorney and a certified public teach young children quickly and eas- dation for tomorrow. Hence, every accountant to complete the necessary ily. Success for the teacher and stu- year’s lessons are the foundation for federal and state documents to incor- dent is guaranteed if the program is the following year. The program is porate our school using effective DI followed as it was intended. sequential by design so there are no materials. We accomplished this mile- gaps or overlaps in instruction. stone on June 15, 1993. We purchased The latest brain research regarding land. Four portable buildings were effective learning in children is from We have seen the Direct Instruction delivered to our six-acre site. We Dr. Bruce Perry, a pioneer in the study teaching strategies literally save stu- resigned from public education. of childhood brain development, Chief dents from academic failure and turn Through a lot of blood, sweat, tears, of Psychiatry at Texas Children’s Hos- their lives around. When we first and pure determination, Mountain started Mountain View Academy we View Academy started classes on Sep- took students with various degrees of tember 6, 1994. As the school contin- Our mission was to focus on academic failure due to ineffective ued to grow we were able to break teaching and/or learning disabilities. ground for the construction of our per- academic excellence utilizing We worked very hard with the Direct manent facility on October 13, 1997. a full implementation of DI Instruction corrective programs to fix and turn the student from a path of Our vision was to offer a new educa- materials to assist each constant failure to a path of success tional choice of a private, independ- student in reaching his or and enhanced self-esteem. Even today ent, nonprofit, nonsectarian day school we enroll students that have a variety for our community. Our mission was to her full potential. of learning disabilities of varying focus on academic excellence utilizing degrees. We know we will be able to a full implementation of DI materials get that child to eventually reach his or to assist each student in reaching his pital and a professor at Thomas S. her potential, whatever that might be. or her full potential. Mountain View Trammel Research of Child Psychiatry Academy was never a lifelong dream of at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. The founding of Mountain View Acad- ours; it evolved out of sheer frustration Perry says effective learning needs to emy was a tremendous amount of work due to politics over what was best for be done with a multisensory approach and a huge undertaking with great children as well as a true passion for with lots of pattern–repetitious behav- risks. All our beliefs, hard work, and teaching. All children deserve the best ior that is sequential and brings learn- risks taken over the past 10 years were education we educators can provide for ing to mastery while continuously validated on September 16, 2003 by their sake and the sake of our coun- building higher order thinking skills. the United States Department of Edu- try’s future. Morals, ethics, and profes- That is exactly what the Direct cation. United States Education Secre- sional integrity are forceful, compelling Instruction teaching strategies are all tary Dr. Rod Paige named Mountain factors pushing you into action to do about! That is why Direct Instruction View Academy a recipient of the 2003 “whatever it takes” once you realize teaching strategies work for all chil- No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon something of quality exists that will dren no matter their dominant learn- School Award. enable you to be an effective teacher, ing style. Engelmann was aware of and which in turn enables every child to understood this information all along. The United States Department of learn and be successful. No surprise to those of us who have Education launched the National Blue been fortunate enough to have come Ribbon Schools program in 1983 to We founded Mountain View Academy across his materials years ago. honor quality schools. The competi- because of our belief in the effective tion originally focused on school teaching strategies of Dr. Siegfried Dr. Perry’s research provides evidence improvement processes. Today the Engelmann’s Direct Instruction that practice is required in academics program’s focus is on results, accounta- teaching model. The model is just as much as it is in music or sports. bility, and achievement. Across the research-based, field-tested, learner- No one thinks there’s anything wrong country, only about 4,000 schools, or verified, and has content-area pro- with a professional golfer hitting per- 3% of all United States’ schools, have grams that build on skills and haps a thousand balls with one club to earned this prestigious award. The strategies from one grade level to the practice one stroke or a pianist practic- award recognizes schools for outstand- next, bringing students to content ing a musical piece over and over for a ing achievement, such as dramatically mastery. Once you really understand concert. Yet when it comes to academ- improving student test scores, having what Engelmann did in developing ics, it’s almost heresy to have students 40% or more of the schools demo-

Direct Instruction News 19 graphics from at-risk/low-income stu- to be a wonderful surprise and a well- teaching strategies enable our hard dents, or scoring in the top 10% of deserved honor for all our efforts over work to be effective and efficient—we schools in the nation regardless of the the past 10 years. do not have to reinvent the wheel. school’s demographics. Mountain View Academy is unique. Was it worth all the effort and risk? Mountain View Academy’s test scores The school has a diverse socioeco- You only need to look into the eyes of have consistently been in the top 10% nomic community with more than 85% a student for that precise moment nationally since the school started test- of the students coming from middle- when they understand what you have ing students in the spring of 1996 and low-income families. The school’s taught—the “I got it, Teacher” using the Stanford Achievement Test. fund raising efforts go to providing moment. That moment is priceless. The Blue Ribbon School Award is the scholarship money in an effort to help Yes! It was worth everything we went highest honor any school could hope to provide a quality education for over a through to get to this time and place. achieve. We qualified for the award third of our students who qualify for It was our belief in Direct Instruction after only 7 years of operation with our financial assistance. Our school’s hard- that enabled us to have the confidence 2002 test scores. That fact alone has to est challenge year after year is coming to attempt such a monumental task be a national record in itself. Mountain up with sufficient scholarship funds to and willingly accept the great risks View Academy was 1 of only 47 private continue to provide a superior educa- associated with such an endeavor. schools in the nation to be awarded the tional experience for all students in 2003 National No Child Left our community who value a quality Mountain View Academy would like to Behind/Blue Ribbon School Award. education, while providing for our cur- express our sincere appreciation to rent scholarship students. Ziggy and his associates past and pres- This accomplishment is a credit to the ent for founding The Association for effectiveness of the Direct Instruction Mountain View Academy represents Direct Instruction and for the creation materials. Mountain View Academy what can be accomplished in educa- of such superior educational materials. never set out to have this accomplish- tion today when you put aside bureau- All your hard work and research over ment as a school goal. We just wanted cracy, politics, and excuses—especially the years was the impetus for our to be the best school in town providing financial excuses. Our school is proof school’s success today. Please keep up the best possible education we could of what can be accomplished with very the great work. Thank You! We could- with a lot of hard work, risk, determi- few resources and using a scientifically n’t have done it without you. nation, and perseverance. Now our proven teaching strategy. It wasn’t easy school is recognized as one of the best then; it was hard work and it contin- For more information contact Mountain View in the nation; the National Blue Rib- ues to be hard work today. Teaching is Academy at (970)330-3671 or log on to our bon Award and recognition happened hard work. The Direct Instruction Web site at www.mountainviewacademy.net

DON CRAWFORD, Otter Creek Institute

hension is impaired until students Automaticity in Decoding reach the third stage of decoding skill, called automaticity.

The first stage of skill, accuracy, is We know that oral reading fluency rate other.1 How is it possible that a meas- when a learner can just barely do some- (number of words read correctly per ure of decoding fluency also seems to minute) is highly correlated with other capture reading comprehension? thing without error, if he or she goes tests of reading, including tests of com- slowly, and if he or she concentrates prehension. In fact, oral reading flu- First part of a three-part answer: Every- carefully. This stage is thoughtful, care- ency rates correlate better with other thing we learn well, including read- ful, and cognitively intense. Any learner reading comprehension tests than ing, develops through three in this stage who is hurried or dis- those same tests correlate with each recognizable stages. Reading compre- tracted will make errors. Word-by-word

1 Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (1992). Identifying a measure for monitoring student reading progress. School Psychology Review, 21(1), 45–58. Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Deno, S. L. (1982). Reliability and validity of curriculum-based informal reading inventories. Reading Research Quarterly, 18(1), 6–26. Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Maxwell, L. (1998). The validity of informal reading comprehension measures. Remedial and Special Education, 9(2), 20–28. Kranzler, J. H., Brownell, M. T., & Miller, M. D. (1998). The construct validity of curriculum-based measurement of reading: An empirical test of a plausible rival hypothesis. Journal of School Psychology, 36(4), 399–415.

20 Fall 2004 readers are still in the accuracy stage of the message—lack of complete com- The rest of the “reading problems” developing their word recognition skills. prehension. This problem is human— are a result of inadequate or less-than- Decoding takes all their attention, and not a learning disability. automatic decoding. so few of their mental resources are available for thinking about the mean- As Marilyn Adams 2 (1990) noted, The 150 words per minute automaticity ing of the passage that they may fail to plateau. A study set out to “determine comprehend even the most obvious Human attention is limited. To standards for how large weekly rates of points. When you ask a struggling understand connected text, our improvement should be” (p. 28) based reader a question about a passage they attention cannot be directed to on two years of data from over 3,000 have just read, you may be answered by, the identities of individual words children. Their study found that aver- “Who me? I was reading!” and letters. In reading as in lis- age weekly changes in oral reading flu- tening, the process of individual ency decreased across the grade levels. The second stage of developing a skill, word perception must proceed They established two standards: (a) fluency, is when a learner can do the with relative automaticity, and “regular” growth—average weekly task quickly without any errors (or no such automaticity is afforded growth in regular ed classes without more than 5% rate-induced errors). only through learning. (p. 229) special support and (b) “special” Fluency comes after becoming accu- weekly standards needed in special rate and only comes with considerable Part three of a three-part answer: Such a assistance settings where students are practice. Although students read quite high percentage of children, perhaps expected to “catch up” with their accurately and fairly quickly (fluently) as much as 90% or more, who have peers. The expectation of 1.5 words at this stage, they may still be working reading difficulties also have decoding per minute per week is based on what so hard on fluent decoding that they difficulties, that a test that locates all happens to the typically successful still do not have much left over for the decoding difficulties locates comprehension. They read fast, but child during the primary years without almost all of the reading problems. 4 they are still putting their mental special intervention. Hoover and Gough’s “Simple View of energies into decoding. Reading” says that “Decoding ✕ Com- If you do the math with the results of 3 The third stage of developing a skill prehension = Reading.” Another way this study, you find something very comes when you can do the task auto- of looking at this is to say that interesting. The pace of 1.5 words matically, without conscious attention. “Decoding ✕ Listening = Under- growth per week, all 36 weeks of the Once automaticity is developed, the standing.” When we read to ourselves school year, would produce a gain of 54 learner can’t help but do it. If an auto- we “listen” to the words in our heads correct words per minute. Rounding matic reader sees these four letters as if we were listening to someone that off to a 50 words per minute gain together—S T O P—reading the word else read. So comprehension problems for each year suggests that by the end “stop” is obligatory. At the automatic are those problems that would still of 3 years of instruction students level a person can do the task quickly, exist when a passage was “read to” a should be at about 150 correct words without errors, and do it in the pres- child. These are easily identifiable. per minute. ence of distracters (without concen- trating) or while doing other tasks. Automaticity comes after becoming Breakdown of obstacles leading to reading difficulty fluent and only with considerable prac- tice. Oral reading rate increases gradu- ally as we move through the levels. 90% 10% only a problem still a problem Second part of a three-part answer: If a when reading to self when being “read to” child is less than automatic at decod- • vocabulary • syntax ing their comprehension will necessar- • human limited mental capacity • limited English ily be impaired. If a reader’s decoding and lack of automaticity is slow, choppy, and labored the reader • lack of prior knowledge • not paying attention** is still in the thoughtful, careful, cog- nitively intensive phase of reading and ** Almost all reading comprehension strategy instruction focuses on the has little left over to think about paying attention variable. meaning. The result is missing a lot of

2 Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 3 Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2(2), 127–160. 4 Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C. L., Walz, L., & Germann, G. (1993). Formative evaluation of academic progress: How much growth can we expect? School Psychology Review, 22(1), 27–48.

Direct Instruction News 21 According to the direct instruction per minute fluency expectation of the their attention to comprehension. reading textbook, automaticity in read- new Ravenscourt Reaching Goals books Which is why, in the fourth grade, suc- ing is normally achieved at about 150 by SRA (for students who have com- cessful readers begin reading to learn words per minute by the end of third pleted lesson 60 of Decoding C of Cor- information, having successfully grade,5 presuming the student is read- rective Reading). If students are learned how to read in the primary grades. So the goal should be for all ing material at the third-grade level. A automatic readers by the end of third readers to reach the automaticity good example of this is the 150 words grade, then they are ready to devote all plateau, ≈ 150 words/minute, before we end decoding instruction.

Because we know that lack of auto- The 150 words per minute automaticity plateau maticity (less than 150 words per Automaticity = 150 words/minute plateau minute) in decoding will interfere with comprehension, doesn’t it make sense Learning 4th 5th 6th to take care of the decoding problems to read first, then see who still has comprehen- Reading to learn 3rd sion problems? Although we should not Intermediate grades avoid comprehension work altogether, Primary 2nd we may not need to invest a lot of time grades and energy on an apparent “compre- hension” problem that may go away as 1st soon as the student develops auto- maticity in decoding.

5 Carnine, D., Silbert, J., & Kame’enui, E. J. (1997). Direct instruction reading (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Howell, K. W., & Nolet, V. (2000). Curriculum-based evaluation: Teaching and decision making. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press

the more qualitative ways of assessing Oregon Profs Wield Influence With Bush children’s learning are generally not Some concepts employed in No Child Left Behind included. We are focusing on things that are easy to see, rather than taking a look at the whole.” EUGENE, Oregon (AP)—Over the Some of their concepts have been years, the University ofTHIS Oregon has PAGEscooped up byNOT the Education AVAILABLE Depart- Professors say results developed a reputation as a hippie ment for use in the No Child Left are quantifiable haven, home to Hacky-Sackers, Fris-FORBehind WEB act, the Bush VIEWING. administration’s But the Oregon professors contend bee-throwers and anti-globalism centerpiece education bill. That law their work is helping to transform activists. But tucked away in a bucolic says that all children, regardless of public education from a mish-mash of corner of the campus is a group of edu- their background, must be at grade well-intentioned ideas into a more cation professors whose work has been level in reading and math by 2014, or disciplined system with quantifiable widely influential and found favor with else their schools could face sanctions. results. the Bush administration. Critics say the Oregon professors have “Education had been primarily driven Along with their counterparts at schools helped usher in an age of rigidity in by philosophy, by who was a good like the University of Illinois and the education, with classrooms full of public speaker,” said Doug Carnine, University of Texas, Oregon professors teachers who “teach to the test,” and have been the driving forces behind the students whose creativity is stifled who directs the National Center to push for letting “scientifically based because so much time is devoted to Improve the Tools of Educators at the research” inform classroom practices. preparing for testing. University of Oregon and has been consulting with George W. Bush since The professors are promoting teaching “The emphasis on research-based Bush was governor of Texas. “Science techniques that they say have been instruction is a bit of a problem,” said tested extensively in classrooms and Barbara Bowman, a professor at have produced good results on stan- Chicago’s Erikson Institute, a graduate Reprinted with permission of The Associated dardized exams. school in child development. “Some of Press.

22 Fall 2004 provides stability, but we just now Engelmann and Carnine developed has reduced the number of children have an opportunity for it to take hold. one of the most intensive phonics placed in special education later on at We’re barely beginning.” curriculums. It teaches children to her school in Springfield, Oregon. read by breaking words into syllables The Education Department, which and sounding them out. “They’ve pared out all the pours millions of dollars each year into nonessentials, and gotten down to education research, hasTHIS put its money PAGETheir method, NOT called Direct AVAILABLEwhat kids need to learn, what they behind the program. Instruction, requires teachers to follow need to know,” she said. FORa script WEB word-for-word VIEWING. when working Year after year, Oregon’s school of with young readers. The approach is Carnine and Kame’enui said results education consistently beats out used at schools nationwide, and several showed that Direct Instruction, and powerhouses like Harvard, Stanford independent reports have singled it other curriculums researched at out as a way to help meet the goals set and Columbia universities when it Oregon, were getting solid results in out in No Child Left Behind. comes to research dollars per faculty some of the nation’s poorest schools. member. According to the most recent Rheta DeVries, who directs the Kame’enui developed a widely used rankings compiled by U.S. News and Regents’ Center for early development method of constant measurement of World Report, University of Oregon education at the University of student progress in early grades, which education professors were bringing in Northern Iowa, said such structured lets teachers intervene at the first sign $1.46 million per faculty member, the curriculums are harmful to children. that a student is falling behind. most in the nation, with some of that money also coming from state and “Testing takes over and determines No Child Left Behind has emerged as foundation grants. the curriculum, and children don’t get an issue in the November elections, experience with hands-on science with Democrats charging that the law Elaine Quisenberry, an Education experimentation and activities that call is underfunded and unrealistic. But Department spokeswoman, said the forth their best energies,” she said. even if John Kerry is elected in federal agency “respects the “What a child knows cannot November, the Oregon researchers University of Oregon’s expertise in necessarily be measured in fragmented said their ideas—standards, testing, literacy research.” tests used for assessment.” public accountability of schools and “scientifically based research”—will The Oregon researchers are known for Proponent: Special education not soon be swept aside. their work in reading, special needs reduced education and violence prevention. But Sharon Brumbley, a special “It is now clear that, as in other They include Carnine, Edward education teacher who has long been a professions, it’s important to use Kame’enui, Siegfried Engelmann and Direct Instruction disciple, said that evidence in making education Deborah Simmons. using the curriculum at early grades decisions,” Carnine said.

DANIEL T. WILLINGHAM, University of Virginia

perfect? The unexpected finding from Practice Makes Perfect—But Only If You cognitive science is that practice does not make perfect. Practice until you Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection are perfect and you will be perfect only briefly. What’s necessary is sus- tained practice. By sustained practice I Question: Just how much should stu- become automatic or for new knowl- mean regular, ongoing review or use of dents practice what they learn? On the edge to become long lasting, sustained the target material (e.g., regularly one hand, it seems obvious that prac- practice, beyond the point of mastery, using new calculating skills to solve tice is important. After all, “practice is necessary. This column summarizes increasingly more complex math prob- makes perfect.” On the other hand, it why practice is so important and lems, reflecting on recently-learned seems just as obvious that practicing reviews the different effects of intense historical material as one studies a sub- the same material again and again short-term practice versus sustained, would be boring for students. How long-term practice. much practice is the right amount? That students would benefit from Reprinted with permission from the Spring 2004 issue of the American Educator, the quarterly jour- Answer: It is difficult to overstate the practice might be deemed unsurpris- nal of the American Federation of Teachers, value of practice. For a new skill to ing. After all, doesn’t practice make AFL-CIO.

Direct Instruction News 23 sequent history unit, taking regular ond condition that required overlearn- particular facts about particular quizzes or tests that draw on material ing. A question was not discarded species are forgotten. But without learned earlier in the year). This kind until it had been answered correctly those facts well-lodged in memory for of practice past the point of mastery is three times rather than once. All par- at least a short time, harm would be necessary to meet any of these three ticipants received a surprise retest done to a student’s ability to grasp important goals of instruction: acquir- after a delay of either 15 minutes or 2 the larger concept. ing facts and knowledge, learning days. The overlearning group per- skills, or becoming an expert. formed better at the short delay (22 For other material, we most certainly do questions correct versus 15) and also want longer-term retention. In this case Acquiring Facts at the long delay (17 questions correct again, practice past the point of mastery and Knowledge versus 13). Overlearning has been is essential. In the case of overlearning, Intuition tells us that more practice studied (although not extensively) for the practice begins with active studying leads to better memory. Research tells many years. These results are typical, for the purpose of learning. Over time, us something more precise: Memory in but most of the experiments deal with practice will take the form of using old either the short- or long-term requires short-term retention. material in the course of studying some ongoing practice. Let’s first consider new material. For example, students memory in the short-term, meaning will initially study the terms isthmus days or weeks. Suppose I am trying to When cognitive processes (e.g., and delta to master their meanings and learn the procedures necessary for a will later practice these meanings as bill to become a federal law. I might reading, writing grammatically, they use the terms in their continued study these facts (using any number of reading a map, identifying the study of geography. techniques) and periodically test myself. Suppose further that I study dependent variable in a science Although practice takes on a different until I perform perfectly on my self- experiment, using simple character for the longer term, it is no test. Do I know these facts? Yes, I less important. Studies show that if know them now. But what about mathematical procedures) material is studied for one semester or tomorrow? In order to protect this become automatic, they demand 1 year, it will be retained adequately learning from the ravages of forgetting for perhaps a year after the last prac- I need to practice beyond one perfect very little space in working tice (Semb, Ellis, & Araujo, 1993), but recitation. Studying material that one memory, they occur rapidly, most of it will be forgotten by the end already knows is called overlearning. of 3 or 4 years in the absence of fur- Because memory is prone to forget- and they often occur without ther practice. If material is studied for ting, one cannot learn material to a cri- conscious effort. 3 or 4 years, however, the learning may terion and then expect the memory to be retained for as long as 50 years after stay at that level very long. the last practice (Bahrick, 1984; Bahrick & Hall, 1991). There is some Anticipating the effect of forgetting It may seem that the emphasis on forgetting over the first 5 years, but dictates that we continue our practice short-term knowledge is peripheral to after that, forgetting stops and the beyond the mastery we desire. In an education. As teachers, we want long- remainder will not be forgotten even if illustrative experiment (Gilbert, lasting knowledge, not just knowledge it is not practiced again. Researchers 1957), participants were read a brief for a few days. But, in fact, teachers have examined a large number of vari- paragraph about a fictional country may have goals that entail short-term ables that potentially could account for and then asked 22 questions based on knowledge. For example, a science why research participants forgot or the paragraph. If the participant teacher may want students to have a failed to forget material, and they con- answered a question correctly, the series of facts about certain species at cluded that the key variable in very question was discarded. Then the par- their fingertips so that the teacher long-term memory was practice (*see ticipant heard the paragraph again, can introduce an important abstract below*). Exactly what knowledge will and was asked those questions that he concept concerning evolution on be retained over the long term has not or she had missed. The procedure was which those facts depend. Once the been examined in detail, but it is rea- repeated until the participant success- student has used the facts to gain a sonable to suppose that it is the mate- fully answered all of the questions. firm understanding of evolution, no rial that overlaps multiple courses of Another group participated in a sec- great educational harm is done if the study: Students who study American

*It is likely relevant that there is not only more practice in this case, but that the practice is distributed across time rather than concentrated in a few months (see former column, “Allocating Student Study Time”). Willingham, D. T. (2002, Summer). Allocating student study time: “Massed” versus “distributed practice.” American Educator, retrieved August 12, 2004, from www.aft.org/pubsreports/american_educator/summer2002/ askcognitivescientist.html

24 Fall 2004 history for 4 years will retain the facts report, reading an essay with deep task you are asked to name the ink and themes that came up again and understanding, or seeing the links color in which the words are printed, again in their history courses. between historical events. but ignore the word that the letters spell. Hence for the stimulus Learning Skills Our ability to think would be limited Turkey, the proper response is indeed if there were not ways to over- Acquiring factual knowledge is only “blue.” First try this list: come the space constraint of working part of what we want our students to memory. One of the more important Lion gain from their schooling. We also want mechanisms is the development of Bear them to be skilled problem solvers, automaticity. When cognitive processes Tiger effective written and oral communica- (e.g., reading, writing grammatically, Lion tors, and creative thinkers. These reading a map, identifying the depend- Bear skills—and indeed, all skills that ent variable in a science experiment, Bear involve thinking—rely on working using simple mathematical proce- Tiger memory capacity. Working memory is, dures) become automatic, they to put it colloquially, the place in the demand very little space in working Now try this list: mind where thought happens. It is memory, they occur rapidly, and they often called the bottleneck of the mind often occur without conscious effort. Red because there is a limited amount of Green space in working memory. That is why For example, if you are reading this Blue it is difficult to mentally divide 34,516 article, the process of reading is very Red by 87. It is hard to simultaneously likely automatic for you. You do not Blue maintain the numbers, employ the need to laboriously piece together the Blue processes for long division, and update letters of each word to puzzle out its Green the answer as you derive it. This space identity. Your mind seems to divine limitation is relevant not just to mental the meaning of prose immediately arithmetic, but to most types of prob- and without effort on your part. Try The second list is much harder to read lems we would like our students to this classic demonstration of auto- than the first list because, for you, read- solve, such as writing a clear laboratory maticity for advanced readers. In this ing is automatic. Even though you try

Now available from ADI Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the Classroom

Geoff Colvin

This text is based on Dr. Colvin’s 25 years of experience and research in working with the full range of problem behavior. He presents a model for describing acting-out behavior in terms of seven phases. A graph is used to illustrate these phases of escalating conflict. The information will enable the teacher or staff member to place the student in the acting-out sequence and respond appropriately. Well-tested, effective, and practical strategies are described in detail for managing student behavior during each phase of the cycle. The book also contains Cost: many helpful references as well as an extensive set of reproducible forms. $28.00 list $24.00 member price To order, see page 34.

Direct Instruction News 25 not to read the words that the letters Automaticity is vital in education a student will become an effective form, you read them automatically and because it allows us to become more reader, writer, or scientist. Following a doing so conflicts with naming the ink skillful in mental tasks. An effective complex written argument, writing a color. For someone who cannot read, the writer knows the rules of grammar and convincing essay, or engaging in scien- second list is no harder than the first. usage to the point of automaticity— tific reasoning are all skills that are and knows automatically to begin a enabled by the automatization of each But most of the time automaticity is paragraph with a topic sentence, discipline’s basics. helpful, rather than disruptive. Picture include relevant detail, etc. The effec- a beginning reader slowly puzzling out tive mathematician invokes important Becoming an Expert the word “blue.” Doing so consumes math facts and procedures automati- What does it take to become an expert all of working memory, so it is difficult cally. Readers who are able to visualize in a field? Consider a true expert, for the student to follow the plot of a map of the world will find various meaning one who is recognized not the story in which the word appears. books and assignments easier to read Once reading is automatic, however, (and learn more from them). In each just as fully competent, but as a precious working memory resources field, certain procedures are used again unique contributor to the discipline. can be devoted to considering the and again. Those procedures must be In competitive arenas (e.g., athletics meaning of a text, the effectiveness of learned to the point of automaticity so or chess), we would say that an expert its argument, and so on. that they no longer consume working competes at the national or interna- memory space. Only then will the stu- tional level. When asked how an expert Automaticity is important not only in dent be able to bypass the bottleneck gained such a high level of skill, non- reading, but in all mental life. Con- imposed by working memory and move experts usually attribute the success to sider how difficult it would be to navi- on to higher levels of competence. innate talent. Experts themselves, gate an unfamiliar city by car if you however, tell a different story. They had to focus on how hard to press the The development of automaticity for attribute their success to practice and accelerator and brake, how far to turn generalized skills depends on high lev- to the ability to maintain concentra- the steering wheel, when to monitor els of practice (e.g., Shiffrin & Schnei- tion during long practice sessions your mirrors, and all of the other com- der, 1984). There is no substitute. (Ericsson, 1996). (The importance of ponents of driving that have become Ensuring consistent, sustained practice practice doesn’t mean that innate tal- automatized. is the most reliable way to ensure that ent is meaningless, of course; practice

Now available from ADI Introduction to Direct Instruction

Nancy E. Marchand-Martella, Eastern Washington University Timothy A. Slocum, Utah State University Ronald C. Martella, Eastern Washington University

FEATURES • Includes coverage of all academic areas with formats of actual Direct Instruction programs. • Covers commercially available programs written by Siegfried Engelmann and colleagues. • Explores the curricular and instructional elements central to Direct Instruction, and explores ways that teachers can extend the principles of DI to new lessons and content information. • Discusses schoolwide strategies and techniques, explaining how to produce effective school implementation through coaching, Cost: supervision, and tutoring. $55.00 list • Provides direction on how to assess classroom and schoolwide application of Direct Instruction. $44.00 member price • Each chapter is written by an expert in the Direct Instruction field, To order, see page 34. putting this text on the cutting edge of DI information.

26 Fall 2004 is necessary for excellence, but it may Some evidence that a great deal of understand and appreciate excellence, not be sufficient to ensure it.) practice, and not just talent, is a pre- we would do well to send the message requisite for expertise is the “10-year that excellence requires sustained Research studies indicate that experts rule,” which states that individuals practice. The athletes and artists are right, at least in that they do prac- must practice intensively for at least revered by many students excel not tice a great deal. Descriptive studies 10 years before they are ready to make solely by virtue of their talent, but (Roe, 1953) of eminent scientists indi- a substantive contribution to their because of their hard work. Edison cate that the most important factor field. What about prodigies like remarked that “genius is one percent predicting their success is not innate Mozart, who began composing at the inspiration and ninety-nine percent talent or intelligence, but the willing- age of 6? Prodigies are very advanced perspiration.” The relative percentages ness to work hard for extended periods of talent and practice are unclear, but of time. This commitment to practice the necessity of long periods of was reinforced by a large-scale study focused practice to exploit inborn tal- (Bloom, 1985) in which experts in ath- The development of ent is not. letics, science, and the arts were inter- automaticity for generalized viewed, along with their parents and What Material Merits Practice? teachers. Bloom proposed that the skills depends on high levels When we refer to “practice,” it is training of an expert typically involved of practice (e.g., Shiffrin & important to be clear that it differs four stages. The future expert was Schneider, 1984). from play (which is done purely for usually introduced to the domain one’s own pleasure), performance under playful conditions as a child. His (which is done for the pleasure of oth- or her promise was noted, and in stage ers), and work (which is done for com- pensation). Practice is done for the sake two, lessons were provided, usually for their age, but their contributions to of improvement. Practice, therefore, with a teacher or coach who worked their respective fields as children are well with children, and regular practice requires concentration and requires widely considered to be ordinary. It is habits were established. In the third feedback about whether or not progress not until they are older (and have stage, an internationally recognized is being made. Plainly put, practice is practiced more) that they achieve the teacher or coach was engaged, usually not easy. It requires a student’s time works for which they are known. requiring a significant commitment of and effort, and it is, therefore, worth resources from the parents, as well as considering when it is appropriate. How are such studies relevant to the dedicated and likely exclusive study by average student? Few students will It was noted above that sustained prac- the child. In the fourth stage, the stu- become a Mozart, Shakespeare, or Ein- tice over time is especially useful for dent had absorbed all that he or she stein, but if we want children to developing automaticity in specific skills could from teachers and began to develop his or her personal contribu- tion to the field. The better violinists engaged in more practice during their training. Recent research that measures prac- tice time more carefully paints a simi- lar picture. The figure below depicts 1100 l the estimated cumulative practice 1000 time of violinists separated by their 900 l l ability levels. The best and good stu- 800 Best Violinists n l dents were enrolled at a music acad- 700 n Good Violinists n l emy that trains professional musicians; 600 they were put into these categories, l n 500 unbeknownst to them, by their profes- l 400 n sors for the purpose of this study. Par- (Hours) Practice l n 300 ticipants were asked to estimate the Estimated Accumulated l n 200 l n time they spent practicing each week. l n l n 100 l n The graph below shows the total accu- l n n n l n mulated practice time at each age. 0 n l n Two conclusions may be drawn from 4681012 14 16 18 20 the graph: Experts engage in a great Age of the Violinists (Years) deal of practice, and that even among very able performers, the best are Figure adapted from K. A. Ericsson, R. T. Krampe, & C. Tesch-Romer (1993), p. 379. those who have practiced more.

Direct Instruction News 27 (which enables higher level thinking) anything? Should she be able to practice conjugating the verb être (to and in ensuring that a memory lasts as grasp the basics of evolution or be) over the long term, but may justly long as needed. Thus, the following describe the different responsibili- believe that students must know this types of material are worthy of practice: ties of the three branches of the material early in their training or their federal government or calculate the ability to read, write, and understand 1. The core skills and knowledge that area of a circle? Exactly what sorts French will be badly hampered. will be used again and again. In this of knowledge merit the focus case, we give practice in order to required to create long-lasting Exactly when to engage students in ensure automaticity. The student memory will be controversial, but practice, through what method, and for who struggles to remember the that practice is required to create what duration are educational deci- rules of punctuation and usage (or such memories is not. sions that teachers will need to make must stop to look them up in a ref- on a regular basis. But, that students How should practice be structured— erence book) cannot devote suffi- will only remember what they have should a teacher strive for overlearning cient working memory resources to extensively practiced—and that they building a compelling argument in in the short term or repeated learning will only remember for the long term his or her writing. The student who over the long term? The answer will that which they have practiced in a does not have simple math facts at depend on whether the goal is auto- sustained way over many years—are his or her disposal will struggle with maticity in skills, short-term knowledge, realities that can’t be bypassed. higher math. or long-term knowledge—and what the 2. The type of knowledge that stu- Daniel T. Willingham is associate professor dents need to know well in the of cognitive psychology and neuroscience at short term to enable long-term Exactly what sorts of the University of Virginia and author of retention of key concepts. In this knowledge merit the focus Cognition: The thinking animal. His case, short-term overlearning is research focuses on the role of consciousness merited. For example, as noted ear- required to create long- in learning. lier, a science teacher may want stu- lasting memory will be dents to know a set of facts about References certain species so that she can controversial, but that Bahrick, H. P. (1984). Semantic memory con- introduce an important abstract practice is required to create tent in permastore: Fifty years of memory concept concerning evolution that for Spanish learned in school. Journal of depends on these facts. Or, a high such memories is not. Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 1–29. school history teacher may want Bahrick, H. P., & Hall, L. K. (1991). Lifetime students to master the facts of sev- maintenance of high school mathematics eral Supreme Court cases in order teacher knows about the future curricu- content. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 120, 20–33. lum students will encounter. For exam- to build long-term understanding of Bloom, B. S. (1985). Generalizations about a particular constitutional principle. ple, an English teacher might deem it talent development. In B. S. Bloom (Ed.), very important that students under- Developing talent in young people (pp. 3. The type of knowledge we believe stand the use of metaphor in poetry, but 507–549). New York: Ballantine. is important enough that students extensive, focused practice may not be Ericsson, K. A. (1996). The acquisition of should remember it later in life. In practical or necessary. This knowledge expert performance: An introduction to this case, one might consider cer- some of the issues. In K. A. Ericsson will likely be developed over a number tain material so vital to an educa- (Ed.), The road to excellence (pp. 1–50). of years, and there will be opportunities tion that it is worthy of sustained Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch- practice over many years to assure for practice in the future. In other cases Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate that students remember it all of there will be future opportunities for practice, but the timeliness of the learn- practice in the acquisition of expert per- their life. A science teacher might formance. Psychological Review, 100, spend the better part of a year ing is important. For example, one 363–406. emphasizing basic principles of teacher might provide just a cursory Gilbert, T. (1957). Overlearning and the evolution in the belief that the introduction to first graders on how to retention of meaningful prose. Journal of material is essential to consider tell time, figuring that the students will General Psychology, 56, 281–289. have ample opportunities for practice in Roe, A. (1953). The making of a scientist. New oneself conversant in biology. Fur- York: Dodd Mead. ther, the curriculum might address the future. But another teacher might Semb, G. B., Ellis, J. A., & Araujo, J. (1993). and require practice in evolution in also reason that first graders need to Long-term memory for knowledge learned multiple years to assure that such know how to tell time (so that, for in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, knowledge will last a lifetime. Do example, they can monitor their activi- 85, 305–316. we expect that a 40-year-old will ties during the day and be more self- Shiffrin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1984). Con- trolled and automatic human information have retained everything learned directed) and so focus practice on this processing: II. Perceptual learning, auto- through the 12th grade? No, but skill. Similarly, a French teacher may matic attending, and a general theory. Psy- do we expect that she will retain realize that students will have plenty of chological Review, 84, 127–190.

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Direct Instruction News 29 Summer 2005 Everyone likes Direct Instruction Training getting mail… Opportunities ADI maintains a listserv discussion group called DI. This free The Association for Direct service allows you to send a message out to all subscribers to Instruction is pleased to announce the following inten- the list just by sending one message. By subscribing to the DI sive DI training conferences. list, you will be able to participate in discussions of topics of These events will provide com- prehensive training presented by interest to DI users around the world. There are currently some of the most skilled trainers 500+ subscribers. You will automatically receive in your email in education. Plan now to attend box all messages that are sent to the list. This is a great place one of these professional devel- opment conferences. to ask for technical assistance, opinions on curricula, and hear about successes and pitfalls related to DI. Save these dates: To subscribe to the list, send the following message 8th Southeast Direct from your email account: Instruction Conference and Institutes To: [email protected] June 21–24, 2005 Florida Mall Hotel In the message portion of the email simply type: Orlando, Florida subscribe di 31st National Direct Instruction Conference (Don’t add Please or any other words to your message. It will and Institutes only cause errors. majordomo is a computer, not a person. No July 24–28, 2005 one reads your subscription request.) Eugene Hilton and Conference Center You send your news and views out to the list sub- Eugene, Oregon scribers, like this: To: [email protected] 10th Midwest Direct Instruction Conference Subject: Whatever describes your topic. and Institutes August 3–5, 2005 Message: Whatever you want to say. Holiday Inn Mart Plaza Chicago, Illinois The list is retro-moderated, which means that some messages

Other regional conferences may not be posted if they are inappropriate. For the most part to be announced in inappropriate messages are ones that contain offensive lan- November, 2004. guage or are off-topic solicitations.

30 Fall 2004 Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model

ADI has an extensive collection of videos on Direct Instruction. These videos are categorized as informational, training, or motivational in nature. The informational tapes are either of historical interest or were produced to describe Direct Instruc- tion. The training tapes have been designed to be either stand-alone training or used to supplement and reinforce live train- ing. The motivational tapes are keynote presentations from past years of the National Direct Instruction Conference.

Informational Tapes

Where It All Started—45 minutes. Zig teaching kindergarten children for the Engelmann-Bereiter pre-school in the 60s. These minority children demonstrate mathematical understanding far beyond normal developmental expectations. This acceleration came through expert teaching from the man who is now regarded as the “Father of Direct Instruction,” Zig Engelmann. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Challenge of the 90s: Higher-Order thinking—45 minutes, 1990. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction strate- gies. Includes home-video footage and Follow Through. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Follow Through: A Bridge to the Future—22 minutes, 1992. Direct Instruction Dissemination Center, Wesley Elemen- tary School in Houston, Texas, demonstrates approach. Principal, Thaddeus Lott, and teachers are interviewed and class- room footage is shown. Created by Houston Independent School District in collaborative partnership with Project Follow Through. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Direct Instruction—black and white, 1 hour, 1978. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction compiled by Haddox for University of Oregon College of Education from footage of Project Follow Through and Eugene Classrooms. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Training Tapes

The Elements of Effective Coaching—3 hours, 1998. Content in The Elements of Effective Coaching was developed by Ed Schae- fer and Molly Blakely. The video includes scenarios showing 27 common teaching problems, with demonstrations of coach- ing interventions for each problem. A common intervention format is utilized in all scenarios. Print material that details each teaching problem and the rationale for correcting the problem is provided. This product should be to used to supplement live DI coaching training and is ideal for Coaches, Teachers, Trainers. Price…$395.00 Member Price…$316.00

DITV—Reading Mastery 1, 2, 3 and Fast-Cycle Preservice and Inservice Training—The first tapes of the Level I and Level II series present intensive preservice training on basic Direct Instruction teaching techniques and classroom man- agement strategies used in Reading Mastery and the equivalent lesson in Fast-Cycle. Rationale is explained. Critical techniques are presented and demonstrated. Participants are led through practical exercises. Classroom teaching demonstrations with students are shown. The remaining tapes are designed to be used during the school year as inservice training. The tapes are divided into segments, which present teaching techniques for a set of of upcoming lessons. Level III training is presented on one videotape with the same features as described above. Each level of video training includes a print manual.

Reading Mastery I (10 Videotapes) $150.00 Reading Mastery II (5 Videotapes) $75.00 Reading Mastery III (1 Videotape) $25.00 Combined package (Reading Mastery I–III) $229.00

Corrective Reading: Decoding B1, B2, C—(2-tape set) 4 hours, 38 minutes + practice time. Pilot video training tape that includes an overview of the Corrective series, placement procedures, training and practice on each part of a decod- ing lesson, information on classroom management/reinforcement, and demonstration of lessons (off-camera responses). Price $25.00.

Direct Instruction News 31 Conference Keynotes These videos are keynotes from the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene. These videos are professional qual- ity, two-camera productions suitable for use in meetings and trainings.

Keynotes From the 2004 National DI Conference, July 2004, Eugene, Oregon Conference attendees rated the keynotes from the 30th National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes as one of the best features of the 2004 conference. Chris Doherty, Director of Reading First from the U.S. Office of Elemen- tary and Secondary Education in Washington, DC, delivered a humorous, informative, and motivating presentation. Chris has been an advocate of Direct Instruction for many years. In his capacity with the federal government he has pushed for rules that insist on states following through with the mandate to use programs with a proven track record. The way he relates his role as a spouse and parent to his professional life would make this an ideal video for those both new to DI as well as veteran users. In the second opening keynote, Zig Engelmann outlines common misconceptions that teachers have about teaching and learning. Once made aware of common pitfalls, it is easier to avoid them, thereby increasing teacher effectiveness and student performance. Price: $30.00

To the Top of the Mountain—Giving Kids the Education Successful Schools…How We Do It—35 minutes. Eric Mah- They Deserve—75 minutes. Milt Thompson, Principal of 21st moud, Co-founder and CEO of Seed Academy/Harvest Prepara- Century Preparatory School in Racine, Wisconsin gives a very tory School in Minneapolis, Minnesota presented the lead motivational presentation of his quest to dramatically change keynote for the 1998 National Direct Instruction Conference. the lives of all children and give them the education they His talk was rated as one of the best features of the conference. Eric focused on the challenges of educating our inner city youth deserve. Starting with a clear vision of his goal, Thompson and the high expectations we must communicate to our chil- describes his journey that turned the lowest performing school dren and teachers if we are to succeed in raising student per- in Kenosha, Wisconsin into a model of excellence. In his formance in our schools. Also included on this video is a keynote, Senior Direct Instruction developer Zig Engelmann welcome by Siegfried Engelmann, Senior Author and Developer focuses on the four things you have to do to have an effective of Direct Instruction Programs. Price: $15.00 Direct Instruction implementation. These are: work hard, pay attention to detail, treat problems as information, and recognize Commitment to Children—Commitment to Excellence and How Did We Get Here…Where are We Going?—95 min- that it takes time. He provides concrete examples of the ingre- utes. These keynotes bring two of the biggest names in Direct dients that go into Direct Instruction implementations as well Instruction together. The first presentation is by Thaddeus as an interesting historical perspective. Price: $30.00 Lott, Senior. Dr. Lott was principal at Wesley Elementary in Houston, Texas from 1974 until 1995. During that time he No Excuses in Portland Elementary, The Right Choice Isn’t turned the school into one of the best in the nation, despite Always the Easiest, and Where Does the Buck Stop? 2 demographics that would predict failure. He is an inspiration to tapes, 1 hour, 30 minutes total. Ernest Smith is Principal of thousands across the country. The second presentation by Portland Elementary in Portland, Arkansas. The February 2002 Siegfried Engelmann continues on the theme that we know all issue of Reader’s Digest featured Portland Elementary in an arti- we need to know about how to teach—we just need to get out cle about schools that outperformed expectations. Smith gives there and do it. This tape also includes Engelmann’s closing huge credit to the implementation of DI as the key to his stu- remarks. Price: $30.00. dent’s and teacher’s success. In his opening remarks, Zig State of the Art & Science of Teaching and Higher Profile, Engelmann gives a summary of the Project Follow Through Greater Risks—50 minutes. This tape is the opening results and how these results translate into current educational addresses from the 1999 National Direct Instruction Confer- practices. Also included are Zig’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00 ence at Eugene. In the first talk Steve Kukic, former Director of Special Education for the state of Utah, reflects on the trend Lesson Learned…The Story of City Springs, Reaching for towards using research based educational methods and research Effective Teaching, and Which Path to Success? 2 tapes, 2 validated materials. In the second presentation, Higher Pro- hours total. In the fall of 2000 a documentary was aired on PBS file, Greater Risks, Siegfried Engelmann reflects on the past showing the journey of City Springs Elementary in Baltimore of Direct Instruction and what has to be done to ensure suc- from a place of hopelessness to a place of hope. The principal of cessful implementation of DI. Price: $30.00 City Springs, Bernice Whelchel, addressed the 2001 National Fads, Fashions, & Follies—Linking Research to Practice—25 DI Conference with an update on her school and delivered a minutes. Dr. Kevin Feldman, Director of Reading and Early truly inspiring keynote. She describes the determination of her Intervention for the Sonoma County Office of Education in staff and students to reach the excellence she knew they were Santa Rosa, California presents on the need to apply research capable of. Through this hard work City Springs went from findings to educational practices. He supplies a definition of being one of the 20 lowest schools in the Baltimore City Schools what research is and is not, with examples of each. His style is system to one of the top 20 schools. This keynote also includes very entertaining and holds interest quite well. Price: $15.00 a 10-minute video updating viewers on the progress at City Aren’t You Special—25 minutes. Motivational talk by Linda Gib- Springs in the 2000–2001 school year. In the second keynote son, Principal at a school in Columbus, Ohio, successful with Zig Engelmann elaborates on the features of successful imple- DI, in spite of minimal support. Keynote from 1997 National DI mentations such as City Springs. Also included are Zig’s closing Conference. Price: $15.00 remarks. Price: $30.00 continued on next page

32 Fall 2004 Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model...continued

Effective Teaching: It’s in the Nature of the Task—25 min- Keynotes from 22nd National DI Conference—2 hours. Ed utes. Bob Stevens, expert in cooperative learning from Penn Schaefer speaks on “DI—What It Is and Why It Works,” an State University, describes how the type of task to be taught excellent introductory talk on the efficiency of DI and the sen- impacts the instructional delivery method. Keynote from 1997 sibility of research based programs. Doug Carnine’s talk “Get it National DI Conference. Price: $15.00 Straight, Do it Right, and Keep it Straight” is a call for people to do what they already know works, and not to abandon sensi- Moving from Better to the Best—20 minutes. Closing keynote ble approaches in favor of “innovations” that are recycled fads. from the National DI Conference. Classic Zig Engelmann doing one of the many things he does well…motivating teaching pro- Siegfried Engelmann delivers the closing “Words vs. Deeds” in fessionals to go out into the field and work with kids in a sensi- his usual inspirational manner, with a plea to teachers not to get ble and sensitive manner, paying attention to the details of worn down by the weight of a system that at times does not instruction, making sure that excellence instead of “pretty reward excellence as it should. Price: $25.00 good” is the standard we strive for and other topics that have Keynotes from the 1995 Conference—2 hours. Titles and been the constant theme of his work over the years. Price speakers include: Anita Archer, Professor Emeritus, San Diego $15.00 State University, speaking on “The Time Is Now” (An overview One More Time—20 minutes. Closing from 1997 National DI of key features of DI); Rob Horner, Professor, University of Ore- Conference. One of Engelmann’s best motivational talks. Good gon, speaking on “Effective Instruction for All Learners”; Zig for those already using DI, this is sure to make them know what Engelmann, Professor, University of Oregon, speaking on they are doing is the right choice for teachers, students, and our “Truth or Consequences.” Price: $25.00 future. Price: $15.00 Keynote Presentations from the 1994 20th Anniversary An Evening of Tribute to Siegfried Engelmann—2.5 hours. Conference—2 hours. Titles and speakers include: Jean On July 26, 1995, 400 of Zig Engelmann’s friends, admirers, col- Osborn, Associate Director for the Center for the Study of leagues, and protégés assembled to pay tribute to the “Father of Reading, University of Illinois, speaking on “Direct Instruction: Direct Instruction.” The Tribute tape features Carl Bereiter, Past, Present & Future”; Sara Tarver, Professor, University of Wes Becker, Barbara Bateman, Cookie Bruner, Doug Carnine, Wisconsin, Madison, speaking on “I Have a Dream That Some- and Jean Osborn—the pioneers of Direct Instruction—and day We Will Teach All Children”; Zig Engelmann, Professor, many other program authors, paying tribute to Zig. Price: University of Oregon, speaking on “So Who Needs Standards?” $25.00 Price: $25.00

Order Form: ADI Videos Use this chart to figure your shipping and handling charges. Send form with Purchase order, check or charge card number to: If your order is: Postage & Handling is: ADI, PO Box 10252, Eugene, OR 97440 You may also phone or fax your order. $0.00 to $5.00 ...... $3.85 Phone 1.800.995.2464 Fax 541.868.1397 $5.01 to $10.00 ...... $4.50 $10.01 to $15.00 ...... $5.85 Qty. Item Each Total $15.01 to $20.99 ...... $7.85 $21.00 to $40.99 ...... $8.50 $41.00 to $60.99 ...... $9.85 $61.00 to $80.99 ...... $10.85 $81.00 or more ...... 10% of Subtotal Outside the continental U.S., add $8 more Shipping Total

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Direct Instruction News 33 Books Price List

The Association for Direct Instruction distributes the following Direct Instruction materials. Members of ADI receive a 20% discount on these materials. To join ADI and take advantage of this discount, simply fill out the form and include your annual dues with your order.

Title & Author Member Price List Price Quantity Total Preventing Failure in the Primary Grades (1969 & 1997) $19.95 $24.95 Siegfried Engelmann Theory of Instruction (1991) $32.00 $40.00 Siegfried Engelmann & Douglas Carnine Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (1983) $16.00 $20.00 Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, & Elaine Bruner Structuring Classrooms for Academic Success (1983) $11.00 $14.00 S. Paine, J. Radicchi, L. Rosellini, L. Deutchman, & C. Darch War Against the Schools’ Academic Child Abuse (1992) $14.95 $17.95 Siegfried Engelmann Research on Direct Instruction (1996) $24.95 $29.95 Gary Adams & Siegfried Engelmann Introduction to Direct Instruction $44.00 $55.00 N. E. Marchand-Martella, T. A. Slocum, & R. C. Martella Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the Classroom $24.00 $28.00 Geoff Colvin

Corrective Reading Sounds Tape $10.00

Use this chart to figure your shipping and handling charges. Subtotal If your order is: Postage & Handling is: $0.00 to $5.00 ...... $3.85 Postage & Handling $5.01 to $10.00 ...... $4.50 $10.01 to $15.00 ...... $5.85 $15.01 to $20.99 ...... $7.85 ADI Membership Dues $21.00 to $40.99 ...... $8.50 $41.00 to $60.99 ...... $9.85 Total (U.S. Funds) $61.00 to $80.99 ...... $10.85 $81.00 or more ...... 10% of Subtotal Make payment or purchase orders payable to Outside the continental U.S., add $8 more the Association for Direct Instruction.

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34 Fall 2004 Association for Direct Instruction PO Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • 541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax)

What is ADI, the Association for Direct Instruction? ADI is a nonprofit organization dedicated primarily to providing support for teachers and other educators who use Direct Instruction programs. That support includes conferences on how to use Direct Instruction programs, publication of The Jour- nal of Direct Instruction (JODI), Direct Instruction News (DI News), and the sale of various products of interest to our members.

Who Should Belong to ADI? Most of our members use Direct Instruction programs, or have a strong interest in using those programs. Many people who do not use Direct Instruction programs have joined ADI due to their interest in receiving our semiannual publications, The Journal of Direct Instruction and Direct Instruction News. JODI is a peer-reviewed professional publication containing new and reprinted research related to effective instruction. Direct Instruction News focuses on success stories, news and reviews of new programs and materials and information on using DI more effectively.

Membership Options $40.00 Regular Membership (includes one year subscription to ADI publications, a 20% discount on ADI sponsored events and on materials sold by ADI). $30.00 Student Membership (includes one year subscription to ADI publications, and a 40% discount on ADI sponsored events and a 20% discount on materials sold by ADI). $75.00 Sustaining Membership (includes Regular membership privileges and recognition of your support in Direct Instruction News). $150.00 Institutional Membership (includes 5 subscriptions to ADI publications and regular membership privileges for 5 staff people). ✔ Canadian addresses add $5.00 US to above prices. ✔ For surface delivery overseas, add $10.00 US; for airmail delivery overseas, add $30.00 US to the above prices. ✔ Contributions and dues to ADI are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. ✔ Please make checks payable to ADI.

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Direct Instruction News 35 Association for Direct Instruction Non-Profit Organization PO Box 10252 US Postage PAID Eugene, OR 97440 Permit No. 122 Eugene, OR

Thank you to our Sustaining Members

The ADI Board of Directors acknowledges the financial contribution made by the following individuals. Their generosity helps our organization continue to promote the use of effective, research-based methods and materials in our schools.

Anayezuka Ahidiana Rosetta Davis Furtch Debbie & Ken Jackson Martha Sinkula Alvin Allert Donna Dressman Prentiss Jackson Pam Smith Jason Aronoff Tara Ebey Shirley R. Johnson Frank Smith Marvin Baker Mary Eisele Wendy Kozma Karen Sorrentino Roberta Bender Babette Engel John W. Lloyd Geoff St. John Gregory J. Benner Jo Farrimond Pat Lloyd Linda Stewart Maureen Berg Dale Feik John L. Lotz Muriel Berkeley Margaret Flores Mary Lou Mastrangelo Sara G. Tarver Anne Berkeley Jane Fordham Amy McGovern Mary Taylor Susan Best Todd Forgette Greg Nunn Vicci Tucci Molly Blakely Barbara Forte Kip Orloff Scott Van Zuiden Mary Frances Bruce David Giguere Jean Osborn Michael Vandemark Janet Burdick Jane-Rose Gregoire David Parr Maria Vanoni Bill Bursuck Mary P. Gudgel K. Gale Phillips Tricia Walsh Coughlan Dawn Anna Rose Butler Tracey Hall Johanna Preston Rose Wanken Janice Byers Ardena Harris Peggy Roush Ann Watanabe Doug & Linda Carnine Melissa Hayden Joan Rutschow Cathy Watkins Corene Casselle Lee Hemenway Randi Saulter Lisa Cohen Diane Hill Sherry Scarborough-Beaulieu Paul Weisberg Jerry Cole Meralee Hoffelt Mary Scarlato Brenda Moss Williams Maria Collins Christy Holmes Ed Schaefer Gayle Wood Don Crawford Susan Hornor Carolyn Schneider Leslie Zoref