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[00:04] Zach: Hello everyone, welcome back to the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene, Oregon. I’m here with some fabulous educators who have flown all the way here from across the pond, because they’ve been implementing Direct Instruction in the early days, and they’re going to talk to us about the pilot that they did and what’s next for them. Maybe you go ahead and introduce yourselves.
[00:28] Tehrim: I’m Tehrim Valabai. I work at City of London Academies Trust, and I oversee the implementation of Corrective Reading and Connecting Math Concepts.
[00:39] Mouhssin: Hi Zach, I’m Mouhssin Ismail, the Deputy CEO of City of London Academies Trust. We oversee about 13 schools. A number of our secondary schools are implementing Corrective Reading and CMC for the first time; we started off with two pilot schools. It’s been an exciting project so far.
[00:58] Zach: I’m really curious about your impressions of this conference. A lot of people talk about the sense of a fierce commitment to student achievement here, and also that there’s no time to waste — there’s a feeling of urgency. How has it felt? What’s been the vibe as you’ve gone into different sessions?
[01:22] Mouhssin: I’ll take this one. It’s our first time at a NIFDI conference. One of the things we found when we were implementing, and even exploring, Direct Instruction was two things. Number one, what we thought and believed Direct Instruction to be — and then engaging with NIFDI and seeing the comprehensive and rigorous nature of it. The idea that every student can succeed, and not only paying lip service to that idea, but actually having the curriculum structure, the pedagogy, and the data-driven instruction to ensure that students don’t fall behind, and if they do, they’re taught to mastery. “Repeat until firm” is an adage that I think is like a golden thread running through NIFDI and the Direct Instruction programs. So we’ve been super impressed with the whole program this week, and also with the support we’ve been receiving for the implementation phase. Everyone’s been absolutely fantastic.
[02:26] Zach: You talk about lip service — perhaps to the science of learning, or to evidence-informed teaching practices. There’s been a really nice movement in the UK over the past 10 or 12 years that has put certain structures in place. My feeling about this, and I’ve talked about it a lot on the podcast, is that it’s just not enough to get all kids there, though it’s been wonderful for setting the groundwork and the foundation. So you had to make some decisions to put some pieces in place. How did Direct Instruction become part of that strategy to get 100% of kids to mastery?
[03:12] Tehrim: I think we started off with defining what the problem was. For us, across Years 7 through 9, we have around 3,000-plus children across eight of our secondary schools. Around 40% of those children are reading below their chronological age, and that’s a wicked problem that we have to solve urgently if we want to support students to get the best outcomes possible. So we were very clear on what the problem was, and then we explored the best solutions to solve this wicked problem.
I’ve had experience with lots of different programs personally, at my previous school, but what I knew first-hand, having implemented Corrective Reading, is that it was an incredibly comprehensive and rigorous solution to that wicked problem, and it met students at the level where their deficiencies started. So it wasn’t that they had a comprehension issue and we sat there focusing on phonics. The program starts students at the point at which they’re experiencing errors, meets them where they are, and then takes them across the finishing line by the time they’ve finished level C. I think the most impressive thing about the program is that it does exactly what it says it’s going to do. And not only does it solve the reading problem — because of the rigor that sits behind the program, leaders who are interested are able to take those ideas and implement them in other areas of the school as well.
[05:01] Mouhssin: From a MAT perspective, the support of the Trust Board, City of London’s commitment to social mobility, the Education Board — having that backing and support meant that, as a multi-academy trust with the number of schools we have, we could really push the agenda and commit and devote the time and resources to do it. Whereas an individual school might be facing certain pressures and challenges. I think the beauty and the benefit of being part of a multi-academy trust is having that collective efficacy across all the different areas — from the Trust Board, to the CEO, to City of London as a sponsor — which meant there was a real commitment to try and solve the wicked problem that Tehrim alluded to.
And by doing that, other educators could see what City of London Academies Trust was trying to do in terms of its curriculum structure and its pedagogical approach, and you’re bringing like-minded people together. One of the other great things about being here this week is that you’re really seeing individuals who have a real commitment to DI and mastery come together and have meaningful conversations about the problems we’re all facing — in the UK, in America, in Australia — and having the time and space to get into the weeds of what that actually means for implementation at a trust and school level. As you alluded to, yes, we want mastery, but there are many pressures on schools that prevent that from happening, and I think NIFDI and the DI programs are trying to solve that problem.
[06:45] Zach: Last thing here, just to add a little flavor to the podcast: what have you enjoyed of the great cultural experiences here in Eugene, Oregon? A lot of people come here and they’re like, “Wait, we’re coming to Eugene? Of all places — I expected New York City, I expected Miami, and now we’re in Eugene.” What have you seen so far? Have you had a chance to get outside at all?
[07:15] Tehrim: We went to the University of Oregon. It was great to see the sporting facilities there. I think that was a great experience.
[07:27] Mouhssin: Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Eugene. But I go back to what I said at the start: the real excitement about being here is that everyone is really interested in DI and mastery, and everyone wants to have conversations about it. So whether it was in New York or anywhere else in the world, the fact that you’re able to bring like-minded people together, who give up their own time and share a similar passion and interest, and to reach across the divide and have those discussions, has been absolutely fantastic.
[07:59] Zach: Thank you so much for coming on the show. Folks, if you haven’t heard me say it enough, I think you should come to this conference next year. Contact NIFDI and go to nifdi.org, because they have lots of resources about what DI is, how to get started with DI, and what the current programs are. I personally didn’t know what I was talking about when I was first starting out looking into DI — if you ever listened to the podcast with Tamara Bressi, I even messed up on the placement testing until she set me straight. So go check out nifdi.org and contact them for more information about DI. Otherwise, thank you so much for coming on, and listeners, take care.
