ABSTRACT

Direct Instruction refers to the work of Barak Rosenshine and others, which is based on a highly organized and structured, teacher-directed, task-oriented approach to instruction. The Direct Instruction model is guided by two major rule and includes carefully designed curriculums in reading, mathematics, social and physical science, language, handwriting, and fact learning. A study by Meyer and colleague of high school graduation rates for three cohort groups in the New York City schools showed that the dropout rates were statistically significantly lower among students taught by Direct Instruction than were those of a comparison group. Direct Instruction is represented by a seemingly ad hoc mixture of behaviorism, cognitive science, and reductionism. The Stanford Research Institute and Abt Associates were contracted to evaluate the effectiveness of the various models in the areas of basic skills, and cognitive and affective behaviors.