Emily Hanford and the American Public Media team of Sold a Story released the fifth episode of the second season of their podcasts on 5 November 2026. Following on the previous episodes that examined the history—development and implementation—of Direct Instruction, especially in reading, in this episode Ms. Hanford reported on the instructional design that undergirds DI programs, how that design aligns with perspectives from cognitive science, and the extensive research (beyond Follow Through) that has examined its effectiveness.
Here is APM’s description of the episode:
Direct Instruction has decades of research behind it, but what makes it work? We dig into Zig Engelmann’s theory of instruction, what cognitive science reveals about how children learn and what hundreds of studies show about the program’s effectiveness.
Get the episode from the APM Reports pages for Sold a Story. Go beyond the podcasts and read the supplemental reports that are featured on this pages, too.
I wish they had said behavioral science instead of cognitive science. Otherwise I'm enjoying sold a story and am recommending it to most everyone.