
Math Minutes
2022/2023 Quarter 1
Responding to Universal Screening
Universal screening is the process of assessing all students three times per year to answer the questions: Is our universal core healthy? and which students may need additional supports?
A healthy universal core would be indicated by at least 80% of students achieving benchmark on that universal screener. If 80% of students are not at or above benchmark, the first step is to examine the instruction all students are receiving as their core math instruction. Is that instruction at grade level? Are we engaging all students? Are we providing supports and scaffolds that allow all students to do grade level work without lowering the cognitive demand? Who is doing the thinking?
If the universal screening data is indicating a need at the universal core level, this should be the bulk of the work. A school may also consider putting into place a classwide or gradewide intervention while they are working through making improvements to their core instruction. A classwide or gradewide intervention is an intentional focus on a need that is pervasive and can be addressed through a high leverage routine, without taking a lot of time. This should be done in addition to the core math instruction.
Should 80% of students be at or above the universal screening benchmark, universal screening data can help determine which students may need additional supports. This is a great time to triangulate data to determine which students to provide those supports to beyond high quality math instruction. Reminder: universal screeners, by nature, are not intended to be diagnostic. Using a RIOT process (Review, interview, observe, test) can help you know more about the student's needs. Consider starting with RIO before doing additional testing.
Reflection Questions Following Universal Screening
Considerations for the leadership team might be as follows:
- What is our data telling us about the health of our math instruction?
- What might be causes? How might we verify those causes?
- What actions can we take, both immediately and longer term?
- What learning might teachers and leaders need to make those actions come to light (reach out to your AEA math consultant for supports here!)
- How will we ensure that those actions are being carried out?
- How will we measure success of this plan?
Upcoming Professional Learning
Figuring Out Fluency Virtual Book Study
In this course, we will engage in conversation and learning around fluency to help develop a deeper understanding of what procedural fluency is and is not. We will identify which utilities, reasoning strategies and automaticities to attend to while teaching. Participants will explore a robust collection of routines, games and other activities that support a fluency agenda. We will also delve into techniques for assessing all components of fluency.
More information can be found here.
Register with course #204296.
Numeracy Project
This workshop will provide training on the Numeracy Project. It will introduce teachers, teacher leaders, administrators and consultants to the trajectory by which learners acquire a solid foundation in numeracy. This package contains assessments (universal screeners, diagnostic tool, progress monitoring) and intervention activities.
This professional learning has two options:
Early Childhood Math Activities and Routines
Register with course #314059
Heartland AEA Math Consultants
Erika Buckner ebuckner@heartlandaea.org
John Butz jbutz@heartlandaea.org
Annie Carpenter acarpenter@heartlandaea.org
Hanna Hollamby hhollamby@heartlandaea.org
Sarah Miller smiller@heartlandaea.org
Diane Royer droyer@heartlandaea.org
Katie Scholl kscholl@heartlandaea.org
Barb Sersland bsersland@heartlandaea.org
Molly Sweeney msweeney@heartlandaea.org
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