Sold a Story

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

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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: soldastory@apmreports.org
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: soldastory@apmreports.org 
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: soldastory@apmreports.org 
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.