Spring Into Action. Successful Implementation Starts Here!

Did you know that success in the first two skills in classwide intervention is the marker of implementation success?

Classwide intervention is the most important thing you do in your first year of implementation and in comparison with screening, classwide intervention is a more challenging MTSS action for teachers to take. Before beginning, equip your teachers for success, making sure they know how to access the materials they will need, set a starting date, and commit to being present and engaged in data team reviews at least weekly during the first four weeks.

Implementation is behavior and just like all behaviors, it is susceptible to the laws that govern human behavior. When establishing new behavior, it is critical to provide strong support for correct implementation up front with a gradual release of support over time as the proficiency increases. In the first two weeks of classwide intervention, a trainer in your system should observe and assist in classrooms during classwide math intervention, using the checklist and resources in the SpringMath support portal, like “How to support a class that is not making progress” and “Tips and tricks for success”. As when learning any new skill, it may be helpful to model correct use of classwide math intervention, assist the teacher side-by-side in the classroom to correctly complete each step in the intervention (there are several videos of classwide math intervention in Support). It can be especially helpful to actively troubleshoot with the teacher any barriers to correct implementation and to address and prevent implementation errors in real time.

Your first implementation milestone is success in the first two skills. Generally, classes that do not implement effectively, never advance beyond the first one to three skills in the classwide intervention sequence. The skill sequences always begin with below-grade-level skills that should be easily mastered by nearly all students given the full dosage of classwide math intervention.

Effective implementation means that all the steps of the intervention (six minutes of partner practice using the practice materials and talking aloud while they solve problems with partners switching roles at the three-minute mark, then independent practice, marking problems correct or incorrect with teacher guidance, correcting their errors, and a class reward for meeting a goal) are followed four to five days per week. The entire process should take about 20 minutes. Students should know the routine (how to get their materials, get into their working pairs, and what good partner practice looks like). If you step into the room as an observer, you should see that students anticipate each step of the intervention because they have been doing the intervention consistently. Students should be actively engaged and all children should be responding. Scores should increase daily and weekly.

Common implementation errors include skipping the intervention altogether, not doing all the steps of the intervention (e.g., not scoring the problems immediately after independent practice, not having students correct their errors after the scoring, or not giving a reward for improved performance), and entering incomplete or incorrect data into the teacher dashboard which prevents students from moving on to the next skill. All of these errors undermine the active ingredients of the intervention and totally compromise its efficacy.

During the first two weeks of intervention, teachers and students are developing and learning the daily routine. Efforts to correctly implement in the first two weeks set the foundation and yield benefits for the rest of the school year. There are generally about 20-24 skills in each grade-level skill sequence and there are only 36 weeks in most school years. So, it is important to begin right away, to expect success in the first skills which are below-grade-level skills, and to establish a strong routine of correct implementation. Classes that are successful in the first two to four skills of the classwide intervention have a much higher probability of mastering the more challenging skills that follow. They also master more skills overall.

If growth is occurring but is slow in the first two to four skills, work with your teams to fully implement classwide intervention, to fully use the activities that are recommended inside the teacher dashboard including whole-class acquisition lessons and three-minute booster activities for which no additional printing is required. You can also provide children with extra practice outside of the intervention sessions by accessing games, flashcards, or even extra practice sheets in Support.