Hello, and welcome back to the Direct Instruction podcast. My name is Dr. Zach Groshell, and today I am excited to be bringing you a fantastic episode about the role of Direct Instruction in teaching kids to read in indigenous communities across America. I will be interviewing Casey Sovo, a member of the Comanche Nation, a 20-year educator, and a Bureau of Indian Education program administrator. Casey will speak to the incredible improvements in performance of schools that he supported when DI was implemented with fidelity, as well as the obstacles or barriers that he had to address when implementing DI. We will also talk about the times when DI was discontinued in the schools he supported, the dramatic dip in performance that followed, and the return to positive growth when schools decided to restart with DI. Overall, I was inspired by Casey’s passion to eliminate the achievement gap for indigenous students through a data-informed, all-hands-on-deck approach to teaching reading, and it was an honor to have him on the Direct Instruction podcast.

This episode is brought to you by NIFDI, or the The National Institute for Direct Instruction. Registration is open for the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene, Oregon this summer, where, in 2024 when this episode was published, Casey Sovo will be the keynote speaker! I’ve provided the links to register in the show notes, and I encourage you to sign up for what is the most comprehensive DI training available anywhere.

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