This study used a single-subject multiple probe design to investigate the use of Direct Instruction (DI) to teach students with autism to tell time to the five-minute increment. Exercises from "Connecting Math Concepts" were used as the DI component during intervention. All students increased their telling-time skills to the five-minute…

Through a rigorous selection process based on special education performance over four years, this study identified eight unified districts in California that showed unusually strong academic performance for their special education population compared to similar districts in the state. Researchers conducted interviews with these districts' special…

The purpose of this study was to examine how my reading instruction had been situated within my school's literacy program. As a way to investigate this study, I employed qualitative teacher research. I used reading theory (Whole Language and Direct Instruction) as the analytical lens for my analysis. The results illustrated how the Direct…

In a field experiment with 178 first-grade pupils, the effects of an experimental beginning reading programme were investigated. Both an experimental and a control group worked with the most frequently used Dutch beginning reading programme, "Learning to Read Safely." The instructional approach implemented in the experimental group was…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of teacher-directed and computer-assisted constant time delay strategies for teaching three students with moderate intellectual disability to read functional sight words. Target words were those found in recipes and were taught via teacher-delivered constant time delay or…

Social reciprocity deficits are a core feature of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a major source of impairment regardless of cognitive or language ability (Carter, Davis, Klin, & Volkmar, 2005). Since these impairments do not naturally remit with age, it is critical to intervene as early as possible to offset potential risk factors…

Federal legislation mandates that appropriate education be provided for all students in US public schools (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004; No Child Left Behind, 2001). The use of evidence-based instructional practices for special education, such as Direct Instruction and Strategy Instruction, is one example of mandated…

Discovery learning approaches to education have recently come under scrutiny (Tobias & Duffy, 2009), with many studies indicating limitations to discovery learning practices. Therefore, 2 meta-analyses were conducted using a sample of 164 studies: The 1st examined the effects of unassisted discovery learning versus explicit instruction, and the…

Twenty-one convenience sample student volunteers aged between 14-15 years worked in pairs (and one group of three) with two randomly allocated high quality conceptual (molecular level) and operational (mimicking wet labs) simulations. The volunteers were told they had five minutes to play, repeat, review, restart or stop the simulation, which in…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) represent a significant proportion of students enrolled in U.S. schools. Research suggests that students with LD in reading benefit from specialized reading instruction, and effective reading instruction can be characterized as explicit, intensive, and systematic. Examples of evidence-based interventions…

Early intervention is key to preventing academic failure and referral to special education. General educators are responsible for providing primary instruction for students at risk for failure; however, the training they receive related to specific instructional strategies for these students is often insufficient (e.g., 1-day workshops).…

This quasi-experimental, mixed model study explored the use of an instructional approach that provided direct instruction and experiences in multicultural education while empowering preservice teachers to examine their perspectives using a hybrid classroom format. The purpose of the study was to explore preservice teachers' attitudes and…

The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate the effectiveness of explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction in the context of controversial socioscientific issues and (b) explore whether the transfer of acquired NOS understandings, which were explicitly taught in the context of one socioscientific context, into other similar contexts…

This paper examines changes in the average mathematics achievement of students in the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) from 1998 to 2003, comparing students in schools that implemented Direct Instruction with students in other schools. First-grade students who received Direct Instruction had significantly higher levels of achievement on…

This study examined the effects of a peer tutoring program that used a Direct Instruction (DI) reading curriculum. Students identified as gifted and talented delivered instruction, using the DI reading program, to their struggling reading peers. The students used a cross-skill peer tutoring instructional format. The results indicated that all of…