The Direct Instruction Podcast

Welcome back to The Direct Instruction Podcast — I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. If you’re new here, this show is about Big DI — Direct Instruction as a science of teaching. We look at real implementation, talk with people building and refining DI programs, and get practical about what it takes to engineer instruction […]

Welcome back to The Direct Instruction Podcast — I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. If you’re new here, this show is about Big DI — Direct Instruction as a science of teaching. We look at real implementation, talk with people running DI in schools around the world, and get practical about delivering faultlessly designed curriculum […]

Welcome back to The Direct Instruction Podcast — I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. If you’re new here, this show is about Big DI — Direct Instruction as a science of teaching. We look at real implementation, talk with people running DI in schools around the world, and get practical about delivering faultlessly designed curriculum […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. In this mini-episode, principal Sean Duncan reflects on his school’s success with DI reading — and how that’s driving momentum for DI math, with […]

I’m thrilled to share a new project straight from the heart of this year’s National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes — a new YouTube playlist I’ve put together called DI Voices. Armed with just my phone and a little persistence, I tracked down educators between sessions (no small feat at this amazing, high-energy event!) to […]

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Direct Instruction Podcast. I’m Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I’m joined by two outstanding leaders in the DI community: Bonnie Grossen and Kurt Engelmann. Bonnie Grossen has supported schoolwide Direct Instruction implementations across a wide range of settings—from urban districts to rural communities, both in the U.S. and […]

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Direct Instruction Podcast. I’m Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I’m excited to share a conversation with three leading voices in education: Stephanie Stollar, Diane Kinder, and Marcy Stein. In this episode, we dive deep into how Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) can align with Direct Instruction to create […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to be bringing you an interview with another DI legend, Geoff Colvin. Geoff will take us through the functions of student behavior, and the intersection of a well-managed classroom and a well-designed lesson.     […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to be bringing you an interview with Randi Saulter and Ann Baum. Randi and Ann are two passionate special education teachers who will take us through what Zig Engelmann called the “picky, picky” details […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to bring you an interview with Jan Hasbrouck, the keynote speaker at NIFDI’s 2025 National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes. Dr. Hasbrouck is a renowned researcher and author with a distinguished career dedicated to […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and I am excited to be bringing you an interview with Dr. Kathy Madigan all about Higher Education and Direct Instruction. Kathy has been a teacher, principal, college professor and curriculum coordinator. She co-founded the American Board for Certification […]

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to be bringing you a glimpse into my classroom for an unscripted coaching session with Tamara Bressi. Tamara is an experienced Direct Instruction teacher, trainer and instructional coach. I had the honor of working […]

Hello, and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to be bringing you a fantastic episode about the role of Direct Instruction in teaching kids to read in indigenous communities across America. I will be interviewing Casey Sovo, a member of the Comanche Nation, […]

Welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast, my name Dr. Zach Groshell, and today we are going to be talking all about Direct Instruction Mathematics. What you just listened to comes from a 1966 video recording of Zig Engelmann, which I have embedded in the show notes. If you’re not driving while you’re listening to […]

Hello, and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today we have a fantastic episode about a half-century of research on the effectiveness of Direct Instruction with Jean Stockard. Dr. Stockard is a distinguished quantitative sociologist, and the author of the book, All Students Can Succeed. One of […]

Welcome back Zig fans, my name is Dr. Zach Groshell. I am a teacher, a parent, and the host of this show, the Direct Instruction podcast. The DI podcast is brought to you by NIFDI, which stands for the National Institute for Direct Instruction, and today we are going to be talking about Project Follow […]