This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

Sold a Story is an investigative podcast about how kids learn — what works in the classroom, the science behind those insights and why that research often doesn’t make it into schools. Season 1 revealed why so many kids are struggling to learn how to read, and it sparked a wave of change across the country. In Season 2, we go beyond reading to look at teaching itself.

Season 2, Episode 3: The Forgotten Experiment

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. 

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Sold a story: The forgotten experiment

by Emily Hanford, The Hechinger Report
October 22, 2026

<h1>Sold a story: The forgotten experiment</h1> <p class="byline">by Emily Hanford, The Hechinger Report <br />October 22, 2026</p> <p><em>This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apmreports.org/"><em>APM Reports</em></a>&nbsp;<em>and reprinted with permission.</em></p> <p><em>Sold a Story is an investigative podcast about how kids learn — what works in the classroom, the science behind those insights and why that research often doesn’t make it into schools. Season 1 revealed why so many kids are struggling to learn how to read, and it sparked a wave of change across the country. In Season 2, we go beyond reading to look at teaching itself.</em></p> <p><strong>Season 2, Episode 3: The Forgotten Experiment</strong></p> <p>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. </p> <figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/apmreports/sold_a_story/episodes/2026/10/22/sold_a_story_20261022_s2e3theforgottenexperiment_128.mp3"></audio></figure> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org/sold-a-story-the-forgotten-experiment/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org&quot;&gt;The Hechinger Report&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-favicon.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=118349&amp;amp;ga4=G-03KPHXDF3H&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://hechingerreport.org/sold-a-story-the-forgotten-experiment/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hechingerreport.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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