Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE) is a curriculum designed to teach English as a second language to students in grades 4 to 12. DISE integrates students with varying native languages and groups them by English language proficiency. DISE starts with the basics in vocabulary, pronunciation, comprehension, and syntax, and increases in complexity across all areas. Teachers provide frequent, explicit instruction and feedback.

In a randomized, controlled evaluation, Chapparo and colleagues compared the effects of DISE on 6th and 7th grade English language learners with beginning-intermediate English language skills to a similar group who experienced business-as-usual second language instruction, looking at their performance at the end of one and two years. Twenty-nine schools in Texas, Oregon, and Washington were randomly assigned to DISE (n=14) or to a business-as-usual control condition (n=15). Experimental students received DISE 45-55 minutes a day, every other day, which is half the recommended amount. Control groups received other commercially published English language learning curricula.

Students were tested at baseline and at the end of the first and second school years using the IDEA Proficiency Test, plus subtests of the Woodcock Johnson and the DIBELS. Although no differences were evident between the experimental and control groups after one year, results showed small but meaningful advantages in English language skills for the DISE group after two years (g=+0.28).

Source: Chaparro, E. A., Smolkowski, K., Gunn, B., Dennis, C., & Vadasy, P. (2022). Evaluating the efficacy of an English language development program for middle school English learners. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 27(4), 322–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2022.2045993