Partnership projects

Implementing Direct Instruction in Australian schools

GGSA supports Direct Instruction programs as they have the strongest evidence base and are the most effective programs to use across all student populations, but particularly with vulnerable students.
GGSA has over a decade’s experience supporting schools to implement Direct Instruction programs and continues to do so across states and territories and jurisdictions. 
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Direct Instruction and McGraw Hill special offer to GGSA customers

Direct Instruction programs are available through McGraw Hill Australia. There are over twenty Direct Instruction programs to choose from depending on students’ needs. The majority of programs are designed to cover the years of Kindergarten to Year 5 with each year being the equivalent of a Year level in Australia.
Hundreds of Australian schools use Direct Instruction programs, with Reading Mastery Signature Edition the flagship program. Other popular programs are Spelling Mastery and Connecting Maths Concepts.
To order online, visit: www.mheducation.com.au. To contact your local McGraw-Hill Education Consultant, please visit: https://www.mheducation.com.au/support-contact/contact-rep.
When schools partner with GGSA they will receive from McGraw Hill a 20 percent discount on their range of Direct Instruction (DI) programs. Just cite your membership code when you contact McGraw Hill.

Join the GGSA network now to take advantage of this offer.

How GGSA supports Direct Instruction

GGSA has worked with a range of teaching professionals and authors of the Direct Instruction programs to comprehensively map Direction Instruction to the Australian Curriculum for English and Maths. The programs were mapped at the program level, lesson level and even at the exercise level. The mapping shows how the Direct Instruction programs cover the majority of strands of the Australian Curriculum.

GGSA The documents can be found here:

GGSA supports schools to implement Direct Instruction. The implementation model has proven hilghly effective in supporting schools and is well regarded by schools who have partnered with GGSA. More on GGSA school implementations of effective teaching can be found at:
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GGSA has developed a set of maths teaching resources that can be used with Direct Instruction programs to cover the few sections that are not covered by the Australian Curriculum. These are called Oz-e-maths Top Ups and Swap Outs and can be found at:
GGSA has also developed a range of implementation tools and school improvement resources and systems that can be used to enhance all effective teaching including Direct Instruction programs. School improvement tools can e found at:
GGSA also uses Direct Instruction as its instructional design approach which makes if science program and other specialist programs highly complimentary to the Direct Instruction English and Maths programs. GGSA oz-e-science and other subject curriculum resources can be found at:
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How Direct Instruction supports students and lifts schools 

from Poor to Fair, to Good, to Great

Many students can be taught effectively using a range of pedagogies and programs. Direct Instruction is suited to high, middle and low-performing students on the bell curve.
However, some students have needs that mean that they are only likely to learn effectively if they are taught with specific pedagogical approaches. The evidence shows that Direct Instruction is the most effective program to use when working with low-performing students.
Schools with a majority of students from disadvantaged, marginalised, low socioeconomic, migrant or Indigenous backgrounds will get to Fair and Good using Direct Instruction.
Most low-performing students are in regional or remote areas or in small mixed-grade Poor to Fair schools. Such schools benefit from a school-wide implementation of Direct Instruction because it best suits both the students and the teaching teams:
  • It responds to the specific complex needs of students learning to read, the capabilities and needs of students reading to learn, and those in later primary and early high school who did not master the foundational knowledge and skills when instructed using other programs.
  • Schools with high teacher turnover and a majority of inexperienced teachers and leaders (the case in most Poor to Fair schools) are well supported by the detailed, sequenced and scripted teaching materials and the data monitoring that enables continuous improvement of teaching practice.
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Direct Instruction was first used by Siegfried Engelmann and his colleagues from the University of Oregon in 1968. Extensively field-tested, evidence-based and research-proven, DI programs have been raising standards for all types of students for over 50 years. No other program can claim the substantial amount of independent research studies that prove the efficacy of DI programs for all students.
Direct Instruction programs combine an explicit instruction pedagogy with a comprehensive curriculum, with sequenced, structured lessons and student assessment tools.
Students are grouped in the program according to their zone of proximal development rather than their age or year levels. This enables more advanced students to progress at an accelerated pace, while differentiating those who require further support and ensuring they are also making standard progress.