5 Research Based Math Instructional Strategies
- Juliana Tapper
- Feb 25, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 6
Not only have I myself been a high school math intervention and Algebra 1 teacher at three Title 1 schools, but I’ve observed well over 1,000 secondary math classrooms in my work as a district math coach and my independent client work. I believe the following five qualities are needed every single day in our middle school and high school math classrooms in order to effectively reach each and every student.
Quality #1: Collaboration
Research: Promoting Student Collaboration in a Detracked, Heterogeneous Secondary Mathematics Classroom
Resource: Kagan Cooperative Learning
Our students need to collaborate to increase their math achievement, this is true especially of students who struggle with math. Check out the research article to learn more about WHY collaboration is vital, then check out the resource to find out HOW to get students ready for collaboration. All too often we math teachers assume students know how to work collaboratively, but (news flash) they don’t! They need to be explicitly taught how to collaborate and this book gives you great resources to establish that classroom culture.
Quality #2: Real time formative feedback
Resource: Embedded Formative Assessment
This is one of the key instructional strategies for teaching math delivery. By formative feedback, I mean getting feedback from students that I use to adjust my instruction in real time to meet their needs as we go through the lesson the first time (and avoid having to re-teach and waste time later down the road when my students unit test scores tank). In his book, Embedded Formative Assessment, author Dylan William states, “Students with which the teachers used formative assessment techniques made almost twice as much progress over the year.” I don’t know about you, but that’s what my students need!
Quality #3: Accountability
Resource: Embedded Formative Assessment
What I mean by accountability is, if you ask students to do a problem, what accountability is there for them to actually do it? If you just go over every problem, there is no accountability. If you just set them loose to work on their own pace, there is also no accountability. Without accountability our classroom results in blank stares during practice, no homework completion, and tests filled with “IDK.” The book resource linked here will give you practical tips to try in your classroom to increase student accountability.
Quality #4: Randomized Formative Assessment
Resource: Teach Like a Champion
Of all the qualities listed here, Randomized Formative Assessment is one of the most effective math instructional strategies. In his book, Teach Like a Champion, author Doug Lemov says, “In order to make engaged participation the expectation, call on students regardless of whether they have raised their hands.” And while there has been some discord about the strategies in the book, I feel Randomized Formative Assessment is single handedly responsible for my students' incredible math achievement. If you’re nervous about Randomized Formative Assessment and think, “but my students have math anxiety! This sounds horrible!” I encourage you to check out this blog post about how to get started with Randomized Formative Assessment the right way with students who struggle with math.
Quality #5: Systematic Instruction
Systematic instruction is regarded as one of the most effective ways to intervene for students who struggle with math. It means we need to systematically plan our content, lessons, and examples from easiest to most challenging in a connected and progressive way that builds on prior knowledge. Often, textbooks do not do a great job with this (ex: example 1a is 3x = 10, example 1b is n - 4.3 = 10.2, example 1c is 9 = 4πx). Those examples are not systematic and lead to confusion for many students. Instead think, how could I plan this progression systematically for my students? Are there additional concepts, problems, or ideas I need to layer in to get them from point A to point B?
