As a 4th grade teacher, it was challenging to ensure each student received the needed support. Creating effective intervention plans was complicated, time-consuming, and not always data-driven. After much trial and error and research, I adapted my approach to be more effective and less overwhelming. Here’s what I learned about the essentials of crafting effective intervention plans and how Branching Minds can simplify this process, making it easier for teachers to create impactful plans.
Curious about the latest trends in K-12 interventions? Each year, we comb through the nearly 9 MILLION SUPPORT PLANS created in the Branching Minds MTSS platform to see what’s buzzing with our district partners. We’ve crunched the numbers to bring you the most-used math and reading interventions, along with expert suggestions from our Learning Science team. Let's break it down!
A guest post from the math experts at BlueStreak Math
The past 15 years have been revolutionary in our understanding of student learning, especially in mathematics. As new studies emerge on the impact of fluency on student performance and researchers identify more impactful ways to support and sustain learning, it’s critical that we refresh our understanding of math fluency and adapt our methods for teaching math to maximize student success.
The ability to read with fluency and comprehension is THE foundational academic skill that leads to all others. Despite the importance, reading performance in the US has been stagnant for decades. In 2022, only 32% of 4th graders demonstrated proficiency in early literacy skills.
So, you have identified students needing a support plan, created goals, selected and implemented appropriate interventions, and collected data using a progress monitoring tool or assessment. Fantastic! These are all necessary steps to supporting students through your Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
A critical part of education is helping students build the life skills and resiliency they need to complete high school and successfully transition to adult life. Branching Minds partners with The Jed Foundation (JED) to bring practical resources to high school classrooms that are informed by direct research with high school students about what they need as they graduate. These areas include:
As a teacher in a Title 1 school, many of my students lagged behind in meeting benchmarks each year. To teach them my grade level standards, I began by attempting to remediate missed learning. However, their progress was limited. Attempting to backtrack to their level just took too much time and resulted in frustration and disengagement. In order to achieve more within the year, I began to use the accelerated learning approach by integrating the required concepts for specific standards into the current lesson. I saw increased student engagement and achievement. And when I started using Proficiency Scales, my students’ motivation soared!