Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward System

by Siegfried Engelmann

Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward System documents the often-outrageous experiences of a man some consider the most important educator ever, Siegfried (Zig) Engelmann. Through a tapestry of vignettes that start in the 60s and continue through 06, Professor Engelmann describes the battles he has fought to provide effective instruction for at-risk kids, particularly children of poverty. The most incredible of Engelmann s battles occurred in Project Follow Through, the largest and most definitive educational experiment ever conducted, involving 180 communities and over 200,000 at-risk children in grades kindergarten through 3. To discover which approach was most effective, Follow Through installed and tested 22 models of teaching disadvantaged children, from 1968 to 1977. The models covered the spectrum of approaches that are in schools today, from the discovery-oriented approaches to those based on behavioral principals of reinforcement. The evaluation measured the children's achievements in reading, math, language, and spelling. The study was also designed to discover which models were superior in teaching basic skills and which excelled in teaching higher order thinking skills, also which models had kids with the strongest sense of personal responsibility and which kids had the highest self images. The results astounded educators and made a mockery of their predictions. There were not various winners, but only one winner, and that one excelled in every category measured. The winning model was designed by Zig Engelmann and his colleagues- Direct Instruction. Why haven t you heard about Follow Through, Direct Instruction, or Zig Engelmann? Because Follow Through outcomes were never disseminated, never made public, and never used to influence educational decision making. Why would the Feds spend half a billion to fund Follow Through and never disseminate the results? Read the book and discover the astonishing truths.

379 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 2015

About the author

Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann was an American educator and pioneer in the field of instructional design, best known as the co-developer of Direct Instruction (DI), a highly structured, research-based teaching method. As Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Oregon and Director of the National Institute for Direct Instruction, Engelmann authored more than 100 curricula and several influential books. His work has profoundly shaped how reading, math, language, and reasoning skills are taught, particularly to struggling and disadvantaged students.
Engelmann began his career outside education, working in advertising and editing before turning his focus to how children learn. He initially studied how reinforcement affects learning and began testing educational strategies with preschoolers, including his own children. In 1964, he joined the University of Illinois, collaborating with Carl Bereiter on what became known as the Bereiter-Engelmann Preschool. There, he developed scripted lessons and systematic techniques to accelerate the learning of "culturally disadvantaged" children.
In 1970, Engelmann moved to the University of Oregon, where he expanded DI and helped launch the DISTAR (Direct Instruction System for Teaching and Remediation) programs in reading, math, and language. These materials were later implemented in Project Follow Through, the largest educational experiment in U.S. history. DISTAR produced the highest student gains in reading, math, and language development among all models tested.
Engelmann's programs evolved into Reading Mastery, Connecting Math Concepts, Corrective Reading, Reasoning and Writing, Spelling Mastery, and others. He also developed resources for parents, including Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and created computer-based programs such as Funnix and Direct Instruction Spoken English.
His 1982 book Theory of Instruction, co-authored with Douglas Carnine, laid the theoretical foundation for DI, explaining how learners form generalizations from examples and how instructional design must guide that process deliberately.
Engelmann's impact extended to national recognition. He received an honorary doctorate from Western Michigan University, the Fred S. Keller Award from the APA, and was named among the most influential figures in special education. He also gained unexpected attention when President George W. Bush was reading The Pet Goat, an Engelmann-authored story, during the events of September 11, 2001.
Siegfried Engelmann remained a passionate advocate for effective, evidence-based instruction throughout his life. His legacy continues through the enduring success of the Direct Instruction model and the thousands of educators and students it has empowered worldwide.

Reviews

[Kitty Red-Eye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot to process. In parts a «J’Accuse» for the US education sector, at times a little difficult to keep focus, especially when you aren’t even American and far less know anything about how the school system works and is funded there.

But very interesting as a memoir and also as the J’Accuse. On a smaller scale, I am certain our schools work like this too, with the same (relative) challenges and the same insistence on using methods that don’t really work in order to fix them.