The Effects of Tier 2 Intervention on the Mathematics Performance of First-Grade Students who are at Risk for Mathematics Difficulties

Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI) is recommended both as an essential step before identifying learning disabilities (LD) and as a mechanism for preventing learning difficulties. The use of evidence-based multi-tiered interventions is of critical importance when implementing RtI. This article presents the results of a study that examined the effects of Tier 2 intervention on the performance of first-grade students who were identified as at risk for mathematics difficulties. Participants included 161 (Tier 2, N = 42) first graders. Tier 2 students received 20-minute intervention booster lessons in number and operation skills and concepts for 23 weeks. Results showed a significant intervention effect on the Texas Early Mathematics Inventories-Progress Monitoring (TEMI-PM, University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency) total standard score.

[1]  C. Gallistel,et al.  The Child's Understanding of Number , 1979 .

[2]  R. MacCoun Experimental and Quasi‐Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference, by William R. Shadish, Thomas D. Cook, and Donald T. Campbell. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001, 623 pp., $65.56. , 2003 .

[3]  Nancy C. Jordan,et al.  Number sense growth in kindergarten: a longitudinal investigation of children at risk for mathematics difficulties. , 2006, Child development.

[4]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Redefining Learning Disabilities as Inadequate Response to Instruction: The Promise and Potential Problems , 2003 .

[5]  Sharon Vaughn,et al.  Response to Instruction as a Means of Identifying Students with Reading/Learning Disabilities , 2003 .

[6]  V. Walle,et al.  Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Third Edition. , 1998 .

[7]  James M. Moser,et al.  The Acquisition of Addition and Subtraction Concepts in Grades One through Three. , 1984 .

[8]  Joan Ferrini-Mundy,et al.  Principles and Standards for School Mathematics: A Guide for Mathematicians , 2000 .

[9]  S. Miller,et al.  Using Evidence‐Based Practices to Build Mathematics Competence Related to Conceptual, Procedural, and Declarative Knowledge , 2007 .

[10]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Principles for the Prevention and Intervention of Mathematics Difficulties , 2001 .

[11]  Russell Gersten,et al.  Number Sense , 1999 .

[12]  Christopher Lasch,et al.  "Excellence" in Education: Old Refrain or New Departure?. , 1985 .

[13]  K. A. Heller,et al.  Placing children in special education : a strategy for equity , 1982 .

[14]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Enhancing First-Grade Children's Mathematical Development with Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies , 2002 .

[15]  David J. Chard,et al.  Using Measures of Number Sense to Screen for Difficulties in Mathematics: Preliminary Findings , 2005 .

[16]  Ann Dowker,et al.  Early Identification and Intervention for Students With Mathematics Difficulties , 2005, Journal of learning disabilities.

[17]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  The Prevention, Identification, and Cognitive Determinants of Math Difficulty. , 2005 .

[18]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Treatment Validity: A Unifying Concept for Reconceptualizing the Identification of Learning Disabilities. , 1998 .

[19]  O Manor,et al.  DEVELOPMENTAL DYSCALCULIA: PREVALENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES , 1996 .

[20]  Susan P. Miller,et al.  Fraction Instruction for Students with Mathematics Disabilities: Comparing Two Teaching Sequences , 2003 .

[21]  D. Geary Mathematics and Learning Disabilities , 2004, Journal of learning disabilities.

[22]  Sheila Bruton,et al.  Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. , 1997 .

[23]  Mark R. Shinn,et al.  A Preliminary Investigation Into the Identification and Development of Early Mathematics Curriculum-Based Measurement , 2004 .

[24]  Chaitanya Ramineni,et al.  Predicting First–Grade Math Achievement from Developmental Number Sense Trajectories , 2007 .

[25]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Mathematics Screening and Progress Monitoring at First Grade: Implications for Responsiveness to Intervention , 2007 .

[26]  Joseph C. Witt,et al.  The Reliability and Validity of Curriculum-based Measurement Readiness Probes for Kindergarten Students , 2001 .

[27]  A. Meta-analysis Mathematics Interventions for Children with Special Educational Needs , 2003 .

[28]  Y Okamoto,et al.  Exploring the microstructure of children's central conceptual structures in the domain of number. , 2008, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[29]  Robbie Case,et al.  Comprar The Role of Central Conceptual Structures in the Development of Children's Thought | Robbie Case | 9780631224518 | Wiley , 2008 .

[30]  L. Fuchs,et al.  Extending Responsiveness to Intervention to Mathematics at First and Third Grades , 2007 .

[31]  K. Smolkowski,et al.  Preventing Early Mathematics Difficulties: The Feasibility of a Rigorous Kindergarten Mathematics Curriculum , 2008 .

[32]  Douglas Fuchs,et al.  Responsiveness‐to‐Intervention: Definitions, Evidence, and Implications for the Learning Disabilities Construct , 2003 .

[33]  Nancy C. Jordan,et al.  Achievement Growth in Children With Learning Difficulties in Mathematics: Findings of a Two-Year Longitudinal Study , 2002 .

[34]  L. Fuchs,et al.  Treatment Validity as a Unifying Construct for Identifying Learning Disabilities , 2002 .

[35]  Diane Pedrotty Bryant,et al.  Characteristic Behaviors of Students with LD Who Have Teacher-Identified Math Weaknesses , 2000, Journal of learning disabilities.

[36]  Diane Pedrotty Bryant,et al.  Preventing Mathematics Difficulties in the Primary Grades: The Critical Features of Instruction in Textbooks as Part of the Equation , 2008 .

[37]  Russell Gersten,et al.  Early Identification and Interventions for Students With Mathematics Difficulties , 2005, Journal of learning disabilities.

[38]  Russell Gersten,et al.  Mathematics Intervention for First- and Second-Grade Students With Mathematics Difficulties , 2008 .

[39]  Lynn S. Fuchs,et al.  Enhancing third-grade student' mathematical problem solving with self-regulated learning strategies. , 2003 .

[40]  William M. K. Trochim,et al.  Research Design for Program Evaluation: The Regression-Discontinuity Approach , 1984 .

[41]  Julie L. Booth,et al.  Development of numerical estimation in young children. , 2004, Child development.

[42]  R. Gersten,et al.  A Synthesis of Empirical Research on Teaching Mathematics to Low-Achieving Students , 2002, The Elementary School Journal.

[43]  D. Geary,et al.  Learning Disabilities in Arithmetic : Problem-Solving Differences and Cognitive Deficits , 2003 .

[44]  Brian R. Bryant,et al.  Teaching Students With Special Needs in Inclusive Classrooms , 2007 .

[45]  A. Su,et al.  The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics , 1932, The Mathematical Gazette.

[46]  Nancy C. Jordan,et al.  Journal of Experimental , 2002 .

[47]  Karen C. Fuson Issues in place-value and multidigit addition and subtraction learning and teaching. , 1990 .

[48]  Sharon H. Ross Parts, Wholes, and Place Value: A Developmental View. , 1989 .

[49]  Mary K. Hoard,et al.  Numerical and arithmetical cognition: a longitudinal study of process and concept deficits in children with learning disability. , 2000, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[50]  Snorre A. Ostad,et al.  Developmental Differences in Solving Simple Arithmetic Word Problems and Simple Number-fact Problems: A Comparison of Mathematically Normal and Mathematically Disabled Children , 1998 .

[51]  Douglas Fuchs,et al.  The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on Number Combination Skill in At-Risk First Graders , 2006, Journal of learning disabilities.

[52]  R. Case,et al.  Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span , 1982 .

[53]  Nancy C. Jordan,et al.  Performance across different areas of mathematical cognition in children with learning difficulties. , 2001 .

[54]  G. Latimer Principles of prevention. , 1971, The Journal of the Texas Dental Hygienists' Association. Texas Dental Hygienists' Association.

[55]  D. Geary,et al.  A componential analysis of an early learning deficit in mathematics. , 1990, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[56]  S. Griffin,et al.  Building number sense with Number Worlds: a mathematics program for young children , 2004 .

[57]  J. Hiebert,et al.  Links between teaching and learning place value with understanding in first grade. , 1992 .