RTI Part 2

  So back to the question of what is important for high school RTI?

One thing is to make sure students have acquired fluency in their math facts.  I discussed a few reasons for this in yesterday's blog.

According to a presentation on RTI, developing math fact fluency is important for the student understanding of higher level problems.  In addition, they can internalize the math and manipulate numbers in their head, increasing their intuitive understanding of properties such as the associative properties.

The three essential elements of student learning include:
1. They are offered academic opportunities to respond by answering a question posed by the teacher or solve a word problem.
2. They actively respond such as completing a problem assigned by the teacher.
3. They receive timely feedback on their work.

These four goals should be established in any high school RTI program.
Goal 1: Create a supportive math instructional environment.  The classroom should include explicit instruction, use accommodations, and provide strong core instruction.

Goal 2: Develop classroom formative assessments so as to adjust instruction to meet the needs of students.  Why teach one student their core math facts if they already have them down?  If the teacher uses the results to individualize instruction.  One way is to create modules so students only need to study the areas they are weak in, rather than reviewing material they already know.

Goal 3: Develop a menu of math interventions which can be used to better meet the needs of students.  Not every intervention works well for every student. 

Goal 4: Motivate the student to take charge of their learning because the self-motivated student is more likely to succeed.

By meeting these four goals, students are more likely to advance further, faster.  You will see a decrease in misbehavior because they are no longer bored studying material they already know, effort and attendance is likely to increase, success in higher math classes increases, and they are more likely to graduate.

Another aspect of RTI is to give students a chance to learn to think aloud while they work.  One reason for this is students who can verbalize their thinking tend to do better in math because they are clarifying, reflecting, and focusing on completing each step, one at a time.  It also helps them identify what they do and do not know and it slows them down so they check their overall understanding.

Later in the week or next week, I'll spend time on how one teaches "Thinking Aloud" in math.  Let me know what you think.  Have a good day.