Intervention & MTSS
A multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximize student achievement and support students' social, emotional, and behavioral needs from a strengths-based perspective... ...The MTSS framework is comprised of four essential components: screening, progress monitoring, multi-level prevention system, and data-based decision-making. (From MTSS4Success)
Benchmarks, Progress Monitoring, and Supplemental Support
Imagine Math |For K-12th teachers and Title One| - Imagine Math is available at no cost to all Idaho schools with support/PD included. The online program includes benchmarks/screening that include quantile scores, as well as adaptive supplemental lessons that also track student learning. Teachers can assign custom instructional pathways or select from a list of premade pathways that include Idaho State Content Standards for Mathematics. Imagine Math benchmarks are criterion-referenced, but also aligned with nationally normed quantile equivalents. Cumulative data from the supplemental lessons gives a more complete and accurate picture of student abilities than competitors offer. Printable lessons are also available.
Take a look at their advertising materials for Idaho here, or have an admin fill out the registration form on this site. Imagine has historically been exceptionally supportive and helpful to Idaho schools implementing the program, including flying out to support schools in person.
EasyCBM Lite |For K-8th teachers and Title One| - Offers free, normed benchmarks and progress monitoring, which can be completed on paper or online. Scores can be entered online to produce progress charts.
Acadience Learning |For K-6th teachers and Title One| - Offers free, normed early numeracy progress monitoring and K-6 benchmarks (only on paper). Staff will need to read the manual to understand how the assessments are normed.
EasyCBM Lite and Acadience are among the few free programs that provide nationally normed mathematics progress monitoring for K-8, and can thus satisfy the requirement for "c) *Data-based documentation of student progress during instruction and intervention using standardized, norm-referenced progress monitoring measures in the area of disability" for initial/ongoing eligibility for SLD identification. *Quote from page 54 of the Idaho State SPED Manual.
Make sure to take a look at the Math Games portion of this site -- games are one of the best ways to help students build their math fluency! Why would you do a worksheet where you could do a game instead?
Materials & Resources
Formative Assessment Overview and Guide for Early Grades Math |K-2nd Teachers and Staff| - Developed by Stanford, this resource outlines some excellent suggestions for formative assessment and provides very specific ideas for formatively assessing Counting (It Counts), Spatial Relations (Shaping Up), Operations (It Adds Up), Patterns & Algebra (Spotting Patterns), and Measurement & Data (Measurement & Data).
Utah Education Network eMedia Hub Mathematics Page |K-3rd| - Scroll down to the "K-3 Mathematics Intervention Clusters" to find some quality intervention task outlines with copy pages.
New Zealand Numeracy Project |K-8th & intervention Staff|
I don't know of a set of paper diagnostic assessments that provide better quality data than the New Zealand Numeracy Project (Georgia uses their materials too in the "Georgia Numeracy Project").
New Zealand Numeracy Project Diagnostic Assessments |K-8th| - Includes GLOSS and IKAN assessments, videos explaining their value, and how to use them in a K-5 setting. This is a powerful resource if staff are willing to put in some time to learn the materials. Georgia's overview document or 10-minute overview video are both good primers, and they've recorded 8 hours of PD for these materials in this playlist.
Georgia Numeracy Project Overview |K-8th| - with links - outlines where MTSS tier 1 and tier 2/3 interventions are found within the project. On page 3, each section is clickable and links to the indicated resource.
New Zealand Numeracy Project Tasks and Activities |K-8th| - FABULOUS resource that outlines a bunch of engaging, easy to make games and activities for K-5 students that are great for resource rooms and targeted interventions. Part of a much larger Numeracy project linked above.
SFUSD Combined Curriculum |For K-5th Teachers & Intervention Staff| - The combined curriculum at San Francisco Unified was developed with SPED students in mind. SFUSD Grade K-2 Math Portal | SFUSD Grade 3-5 Math Portal
Math Milestones Grade Level Grids |For K-8th Teachers & Intervention Staff| - Each 2-page grade level grid has questions centered on concepts, fluencies, applications, and practices of mathematics in an entire grade level. The student-facing handouts make great formative assessment or intervention activities. The Teacher Notes for each task include answers, descriptions of key math concepts and relevant prior knowledge, ideas for extending the task, reflection pages for use prior to teaching the task in the classroom, and other features. This is an evolution of the SAP Priority Instructional Content for math listed above.
Learning and Teaching with Learning Trajectories |PreK-3rd| - Free, large list of activities with teacher notes centered on learning trajectories including subitizing, adding/subtracting, composing, multiplying/dividing, fractions, shapes, and measurement. Also includes videos that show what it might look like when a child is at a particular part of the learning trajectory. Sponsored by NSF, IES, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Primary Numeracy (K-3) and Multiplicative Thinking (3-5) Intervention Programs via Numeracy Consultants |K-5th| - Includes a two-hour training video that outlines the Assessments, leveled learning materials, workbook / e-books, learning framework, leveled activities teacher guide, intervention strategies, and dozens of other resources. Can only access the free resources AFTER the two hour training. If there is NO MTSS/RTI intervention K-5 in your school, this is a good starting place.
Multiplication Table Intuition Activities |3rd-8th| - A simple set of slides with commentary to help teachers to get students thinking about how the multiplication facts they already know can allow them to derive the facts they don't know.
MTSS Theory and Planning
Challenging Deficit Thinking in Teachers of Mathematics -- Rachel Lambert |For K-12th Teachers| - An excellent list of thoughts that challenge deficit thinking. Many of these have inspired me to make some changes to how I talk about and work with students with disabilities.
What Works Clearinghouse "Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades" |K-6th| - A research review that outlines six practices that are highly likely to result in successful interventions for students, including notes on how to successfully implement the practices, common reasons implementations don't work, and things that can go wrong. Topics include Mathematical Language, Representations, Number Lines, Word Problems, Timed Activities, and Systematic Instruction. I strongly suggest reading the whole context in the full document because many schools implement some of these practices in ways that don't work well or in ways that may even be harmful to students.
MTSS4Success |For K-12th Leadership| - Getting started with MTSS? MTSS is a more complete and updated version of what used to be RTI, and is advocated and summarized by the Idaho SDE on this SDE website. MTSS4Success provides MTSS implementation support tools and process outlines for a three phase MTSS implementation program. Also includes tools and process outlines to assist with the four essential components: screening, progress monitoring, data-based decision making, and multi-level prevention systems.
Mathematics ISAT Targets Summaries with Links |For K-12th Teachers/Admin| - Outlines the major and supporting claim 1 targets per grade level with a Standards summary per target. Links to the Smarter Balanced website with interim assessments, supporting materials, DOK, target-level descriptors, and more. For K-8, this document has not yet been updated to match 2022 adopted Idaho Content Standards for Mathematics, so a few standard numbers may be transposed.
K-8 Priority Instructional Content |For K-8th Teachers| - in math and ELA from SAP - identifies what standards are most important so you can spend the most time on what matters most.
9-12 Priority Instructional Content with Notes |For 9-12th Teachers| - in math and ELA from SAP - identifies what standards are most important so you can spend the most time on what matters most.
SBAC Construct Relevant Vocabulary For Mathematics |For 3-11th Teachers| - Outlines the essential vocabulary per ISAT target per grade 3-11.
Addressing Unfinished Learning Guidance
Addressing Unfinished Learning After COVID-19 School Closures |For K-12th educators/admin| - An excellent resource from the council of great city schools. Pages 3-8 give the "best practice principles" list for addressing unfinished learning. Search for the phrase "Examples of Instructional Strategies for Supporting Unfinished Learning" to find some practical suggestions for key transition points.
Addressing Unfinished Learning |For K-12th educators/admin| - from achievethecore, includes a three-part webinar series, 1 hour each, from the Council of Great City Schools.
Mathematics: Preparing for Unfinished Learning |For K-12th educators/admin| - Oregon State Department of Education. A 2-pager that outlines best practices and suggests 5 steps towards addressing unfinished learning. See also Student Learning: Unfinished, Not Lost, which provides some shifts in language to avoid deficit thinking.
Learning Acceleration Guide from TNTP |For K-12th admin| - A guide with action steps to move school and district-wide systems towards best practices for learning acceleration -- ie, just-in-time supports that help students with unfinished learning to learn grade-level standards.
Remediation Doesn't Work... So What Does? |For K-12th educators/admin| - A set of slides for a variable-length PD session that gives an overview of various unfinished learning research.
Forward Planning Tool - The Forward Planning tool helps teachers to provide just-in-time corequisite supports to students. Can be used to provide just-in-time support to students by connecting prerequisite standards or concepts - with known unfinished learning- to future grade-level standards. It should be used together with the Standards Snapshot tool.
Math Mindsets
How to Learn Math for Students via Youcubed |For students from around 4th-12th| - by Jo Boaler at Stanford - A lovely, self-paced, free course for students that teaches growth mindset and other dispositions to succeed at learning math. Spanish version available.
Mathematical Mindset Practices Rubric for Growth Mindset |For preK-99th Teachers and Students| - A short, self-assessment rubric that helps individuals reflect on their math mindset while introducing what a healthy, growth-mindset looks like.