To move children through their lessons quickly and efficiently, Direct Instruction calls for placing students in groups based on their abilities. But the groups are also flexible, and when the class turns to U.S. history, six students go across the hall for extra language arts lessons. To enable that kind of cross-classroom grouping, schools that sign on to the program must require all their classrooms to teach the same subjects at the same time each day. But in math, the advanced students also work ahead, outpacing Mr. Carpenter's ability to read the lessons, something the teacher says can be frustrating. Because the skills taught build on one another over time, even the most agile students need to stick with the lessons, he says.
Repetition is also part of the program's game plan.
Students do not really master a skill until they repeat it again and again and in different contexts, program providers say. Even with a script, Direct Instruction looks different in different classes. Some teachers, for example, moderate their delivery to accentuate key ideas. In other classes, the pace may be more staccato or more like a game. Conducting the lessons properly, proponents say, can be tiring.