Season 2 of the podcast Sold a Story shifts focus from reading instruction to how teachers teach, according to a Hechinger Report reprint of the APM Reports episode. In the new episode, titled "Get ready!", journalist Emily Hanford looks at why Siegfried Engelmann's Direct Instruction method remains rare in classrooms despite strong research backing. The episode examines why schools repeatedly abandon the approach and visits a North Carolina charter network that has used it for more than 25 years.
What Happened
The first season of Sold a Story, produced by APM Reports, examined why many students struggle to learn to read, according to the Hechinger Report episode summary. Season 2 moves beyond reading to evaluate classroom teaching more broadly. The "Get ready!" episode addresses the gap between research supporting Direct Instruction and schools' tendency to drop the curriculum. Hanford also reports from a North Carolina charter network that has used the program for more than 25 years.
The release follows policy changes tied to Hanford's previous work. According to Education Week, the first season of Sold a Story pushed states to pass new reading laws and led school districts across the country to change their instructional methods. Since Hanford began covering reading instruction in 2017, dozens of states have introduced bills requiring curricula aligned with the "science of reading," according to Time.
The Bigger Picture
Direct Instruction relies on step-by-step, scripted lessons developed by the late professor Siegfried Engelmann, according to Education Week. Engelmann's book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons remains popular with parents, but public schools have mostly avoided his methods.
This resistance continues despite decades of empirical support. A 2018 meta-analysis in Review of Educational Research analyzed 50 years of Direct Instruction research from 1966 to 2016, covering 328 studies, 413 study designs, and nearly 4,000 effect sizes. The authors found positive, statistically significant academic gains across elementary and secondary reading, math, language, spelling, and general ability. These gains grew with more exposure to the curriculum and held steady during follow-up testing periods.
A subsequent review in Perspectives on Behavior Science reached a similar conclusion, finding that five decades of research show clear evidence of Direct Instruction's effectiveness. Even with that data, the study noted, teachers and administrators have largely chosen not to adopt it.