Special Education and Direct Instruction: An Effective Combination

An excerpt from the Executive Summary:

"This report highlights the unique and successful use of Direct Instruction among special education populations. It is divided into four parts:

• Part I describes methods and approaches that research implies will benefit special education students. It indicates that direct, explicit instruction is the most effective way to improve skills of students who are significantly behind peers.
• Part II provides a description of procedures used to review the Direct Instruction and special education populations studies. Data confirms that students predicted to have low achievement benefit greatly from Direct Instruction.
• Part III summarizes studies using Direct Instruction with students who have high-incidence disabilities from preschool to high school. Thirty-seven studies were found across academic areas. In 34 of the 37 studies, students who were taught with Direct Instruction fared better than students who used other programs.
• Part IV describes eight studies using Direct Instruction for students who have low-incidence disabilities.

These studies show that students with more severe disabilities can learn at high levels with systematic, research-proven programs such as Direct Instruction."