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The longer printed works on Zigsite include, Rubric for Identifying Authentic DI Programs, Low Performers' Manual, and the log of the first formal study I did in education -- Comparative Preschool Study: High and Low SES Preschoolers Learning Advanced Cognitive Skills. These are constructive. Most of the other works are constructive only in the sense that they help clarify why education has gone basically nowhere in the past 40 years. Only now are educators starting to "invent" some of the stuff we used back in the 60s.
The prologues frame the "historical context" for the article or tome, and why I think it's important. Although some of the articles critique works you may not have read, I think that I express the oppositions' positions at least fairly enough that you don't have to read these works (unless you have masochistic tendencies).
For all the pieces on the website, I hold the copyright. Feel free to download them, and use them. If you have a special use, or want to publish something, check it out with me.
LINKS TO RELATED SITES
- Biographical Sketch
- NIFDI (National Institute for Direct Instruction)
- University of Oregon
- FUNNIX Reading and Math Programs
LINKS TO RELATED ARTICLES
Recent Articles by Siegfried Engelmann
Thank You, Josh Baker
I've been enormously lucky to have worked with people who taught me how to think straight and solve difficult problems. The person who may have influenced me the most was Joshua Baker.
Go to article.
Common Core Standards: Problems with Literacy Standard 2.4
Another outrageous example of Common Core Standards for grade 2 is Literature Reading Standard 2.4. When you read the standard below, don’t think of the top kids in a second-grade classroom. Think of the lower performers.
Go to article.
The Blips of Neuroscience
Researchers have discovered a great deal about how the brain works. Some even suggest that facts about the brain have serious implications for education. For instance, Harvard’s graduate program in education offers a course titled, Mind, Brain, and Education.
Go to article.
Teaching Within the Zone of Proximal Development
One of the very few concepts that appears in more popular notions about learning and development is the zone of proximal development. Vygotski described the zone of proximal development as the difference between a learner’s current level of performance and what the learner can learn with assistance.
Go to article.
Constructivism Versus Students
Constructivism has captured the imagination of many educators, but it is not a strong theory. The tenets that serve as a foundation for constructivism don’t rigorously or even vaguely imply any of the theory’s practices.
Go to article.
Oregon's Matrix, The Emperor's Latest Clothes
Oregon’s Matrix for evaluating teachers and administrators is a model that is unacceptable because it fuses goals and ratings with plans. The model’s most serious flaw is that ratings and plans are not strictly referenced to student performance.
Go to article.
Critique of Lowercased di (direct instruction)
Barak Rosenshine is a self-validated exponent of lowercase di. This article presents evidence that shows the
historical distortions Rosenshine and others have created. The
conclusion the critique draws is that “(lc) di is an elitist practice,
not something that can be readily taught to average teachers, while
teaching (UC) DI effectively can be uniformly taught to average
teachers.” Go to article.
