I have been using D5 successfully in my 5th grade class for the last 2 years. I am departmentalized so I only have about 50 min. with each group. I use the 10 steps to Independence along with standard setting goals to teach everything, walking in the hall, entering my classroom, read to self and soon write to self. It took me a while to realize that D5 is only a behavior management plan with no curriculum. Once I finally realized that I quit stressing and started teaching the behaviors (we model and practice till we get it right!) and it all fell into place. It does take me about a month to train the kids and I do get behind in curriculum for a bit but by then the kids have fallen in love with reading and then I can go much faster as they are really reading. Then I can start conferring more and more. I know many teachers feel it is for lower grades but I strongly believe it will work with any age as it is just behavior modification which we know works on adults and kids alike!
