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

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

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

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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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.

The New Yorker staff writer David Owen opened a recent piece with a personal story: To hide that she couldn’t read, his niece turned pages when her classmates did. Owen joined Sold a Story host Emily Hanford for a live conversation about his December 2025 article “Dyslexia and the Reading Wars.” The event was part of the Eyes on Reading series at Planet Word, a museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to words and language.

Read: Transcript of this episode
Watch: All Eyes on Reading videos
Connect: Sold a Story discussion guides

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected] 
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.

Early in her teaching career, Margaret Goldberg was skeptical of the science of reading. Today, she is working with neuroscientist Reid Lyon to bring it into more classrooms. Lyon and Goldberg joined Sold a Story host Emily Hanford for a live conversation about the challenges of translating research into practice. The event was part of the Eyes on Reading series at Planet Word, a museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to words and language.

Read: Transcript of this episode
See: Slideshow from the event (cute pictures!)
Watch: All Eyes on Reading videos
Connect: Sold a Story discussion guides

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected] 
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.

Education research is at a turning point in the United States. The Trump administration is slashing government funding for science and dismantling the Department of Education. We look at what the cuts mean for the science of reading — and the effort to get that science into schools. 

Read: Trump cancels survey of high schoolers 
Read: Nation’s Report Card at risk 
Read: Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment 
Read: Transcript of this episode

Carolyn Riehl: Medical research and education research 

Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports 
Email us: [email protected]  
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org 

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

Steubenville became a model of reading success. Then a new law in Ohio put it all at risk. In this episode, we look at the "science of reading" lists some states are making, why the program Steubenville has been using for 25 years isn't getting on many of these lists, and the surprising power of one curriculum review group.

Read: Christopher Peak on EdReports
Read: Transcript of this episode

Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports 
Email us: [email protected]  
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org 

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.

There’s a name for the program at the heart of Steubenville’s remarkable reading results. It’s called Success for All. It’s been around for decades, and numerous studies have shown it’s effective. But relatively few school districts use it. We trace the history of the program and why it’s never really caught on. 

Read: Why don’t more schools use Success for All?
Read: Transcript of this episode

Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports 
Email us: [email protected]  
More: soldastory.org 

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.