Research-Based Instructional Approach That I

¶ … research-based instructional approach that I researched is called Direct Instruction. Nowadays, the education in most schools is becoming worse and parents are beginning to ask who is to blame for this. Administrators in education have come to the same conclusions: lack of funding, lack of welfare, lack of parental help and attention etc. But is this really so? After having tested and checked all possible approaches, researchers have come to the conclusion that DI - Direct Instruction approach - is the most effective.

Direct Instruction was developed by Siegfried Engelmann and Wesley C. Becker. Direct Instruction (DI) refers to the teaching that requires interaction between the teacher and their students. The process of this teaching method is fast-paced. In the end, less time is spent on the comprehension of a certain aspect or subject. When Direct Instruction was first introduced in 1968, it created a number of disputes and controversial opinions.

In order to check the efficiency of Direct Instruction, Project Follow Through was launched in the 1970s. Project Follow Through is considered to be the largest educational study that has ever been completed. It cost $600 million and covered 79,000 students. This project observed a variety of educational programs. It was designed to find the most effective program for improving a child's education. As it turned out, Direct Instruction showed the best results in all the spheres, not only in the sphere of basic skills, but also in the sphere of student's self-esteem and relations with other students.

Direct Instruction was an effective approach with students who were from different population segments, in regards to race, religion and poverty. The Project Follow Through revealed that Direct Instruction was the most effective approach for students who were rich or poor and for those students who lived in both urban and rural areas. Direct Instruction stands for society's equality and it works best.

Direct Instruciton should be used as a method for education because it has proven to be the most effective technique for actual learning and understanding. Since teachers are working directly with the student, they are can immediately respond to the needs of the student and adjust levels of comprehension based upon their different rates of comprehension. Additionally, the use of DI ensures that teachers do not "belabor" certain aspects of lessons and at the same time can either slow or speed up their lesson according to the student's needs. The focus is that this learning strategy places all of the emphasis upon the student and provides manevurability into the hands of the teacher. This creates high levels of confidence for the student because he feels that he is consistently accomplishing goals while increasing comprehension because the teacher adjusts to the learning mechanics of the student.