Sold a Story

In a poor, Black neighborhood in Houston, principal Thaddeus Lott transforms a struggling elementary school with Direct Instruction. Soon, his students are outperforming students at much wealthier schools. The results are so remarkable, some people think it’s too good to be true.

Video: The secret to Wesley Elementary’s success
Read: Teachers who use Direct Instruction tend to like it

Read: Transcript of this episode

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Zig Engelmann gets the chance of a lifetime: Put Direct Instruction to the test in one of the largest education experiments ever conducted. The results could have changed the direction of American education. Instead, they’re contested — and ultimately cast aside.

Read: Why America’s massive educational experiment didn’t transform schools
Read: The forgotten voices of Project Follow Through
Video: The biggest education experiment you’ve never heard of

Read: Transcript of this episode

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a weekly email newsletter from host Emily Hanford.

At an experimental preschool in Illinois, Zig Engelmann and his colleagues begin turning his ideas into a classroom teaching method. Along the way, they make a series of discoveries about effective instruction. Their mantra: “If the student hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught.”

Read: What is Direct Instruction?
Video: The 5 key concepts of DI
Video: Who was Zig Engelmann?

Read: Transcript of this episode

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a weekly email newsletter from host Emily Hanford.

In the 1960s, an education outsider named Zig Engelmann begins challenging conventional ideas about what young children can learn. He teaches his 4-year-old twins basic algebra. But he has a hard time getting anyone in education to take him seriously, until a professor gives him a chance to see if his ideas will work in a classroom.

Read: What is Direct Instruction?
Video: The 5 key concepts of DI
Video: Who was Zig Engelmann?

Read: Transcript of this episode

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a weekly email newsletter from host Emily Hanford.

Sold a Story is back with a new season that goes beyond reading. Emily Hanford explores an approach to teaching that's been largely rejected by the education system — despite decades of evidence that it works.

Video: Watch the trailer on YouTube
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part Extra Credit email series from Emily Hanford.