Lesson 2: Determining What Students Need

Lesson Overview

Lesson 1 focused on using student data to create purposeful small groups based on a common instructional need. Creating the group is only the first step. Teachers also need to determine what type of support those students need.

Students who do not demonstrate mastery do not always need the same instructional response. Some students may understand the skill but need additional practice. Others may have a gap in understanding that requires reteaching. A student may also have a prerequisite gap that needs to be addressed first.

In this lesson, you will use evidence of student understanding to determine what students need and what should happen next.

Reteaching or Additional Practice?

Lesson 1 identified six students who needed support with CP3: Multiply by the tens place. Students 1, 4, 5, 6, 11, and 14 were identified for this group. The group shares a common need, but that does not necessarily mean every student needs the same instruction.

• Reteaching is needed when the evidence shows that a student does not yet understand the skill or concept.

• Additional practice is appropriate when the student demonstrates an understanding of the skill but is not yet applying it accurately, consistently, or independently.

For example, a student who consistently begins the second partial product in the ones place may not understand the place-value concept behind multiplying by the tens place. This student may need reteaching.

Another student may correctly begin the second partial product in the tens place and use the correct process but make an occasional multiplication error. This student may need additional practice rather than reteaching.

Both students were identified as needing support with CP3, but the evidence shows that they need different instructional responses.

Determine the Next Instructional Step

Teachers can use three questions to determine what should happen next. Let’s apply these questions to Student 14 from our decimal multiplication example.

1. What can the student already do?

Identify what the student has demonstrated successfully.

Student 14 successfully demonstrated CP1: Set up the problem correctly. The student did not demonstrate success with CP2, CP3, CP4, or CP5. This tells us that the breakdown begins at CP2: Multiply by the ones place.

2. What does the student need?

Determine whether the student needs reteaching, additional practice, or support with a prerequisite skill.

Before addressing CP3, the teacher should look at Student 14's work at CP2. If the evidence shows that the student does not understand how to multiply by the ones place, the student needs reteaching at CP2. If the student demonstrates the correct process but makes inconsistent errors, the student may need additional practice at CP2.

CP2 should be addressed before moving forward because it is a prerequisite skill needed to successfully complete the remaining steps.

3. What should happen next?

Identify the specific skill, concept, or misconception that should become the focus of instruction.

The teacher should begin with CP2: Multiply by the ones place and provide either reteaching or additional practice based on the evidence in the student's work. Once Student 14 demonstrates success with CP2, the teacher can collect new evidence and determine whether the student is ready to move to CP3.

This process keeps the teacher from automatically placing Student 14 into the CP3 group simply because CP3 was one of the identified needs. The checkpoint data helps identify where the breakdown begins, and the student's work helps determine what type of support is needed.

Make the Instruction Match the Need

The instructional response should be specific. A broad statement such as “reteach decimal multiplication” does not provide enough direction for a targeted small group.

Instead, the teacher might determine that a student needs to:

• Understand why the second partial product begins in the tens place.

• Practice multiplying by the tens place accurately.

• Reteach multiplication by the ones place before moving to the next checkpoint.

The specific need should determine the focus of the small-group instruction.