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This study examined whether the efficacy of ROOTS, a 50-lesson mathematics intervention program focused on whole number concepts for at-risk kindergarten students, differed by group size an...

Explicit instruction is a systematic instructional approach that facilitates frequent and meaningful instructional interactions between teachers and students around critical academic content. This study examined the relationship between student mathematics outcomes and the rate and quality of explicit instructional interactions that occur during core mathematics instruction in kindergarten classrooms using a multifaceted observation system. A total of 379 observations were conducted in 129 classrooms, involving approximately 2,200 students across a 2-year span. Results suggest that the rate and quality of instructional interactions is related to student mathematics achievement. Implications for instruction and observation research are discussed.

This study examined the efficacy of a core kindergarten mathematics program, ELM, a 120-lesson comprehensive curriculum providing instruction in (a) number operations, (b) geometry, (c) measurement, and (d) vocabulary. ELM is designed to address the learning needs of all students, including at-risk students in the general education or Tier I classroom setting. The study utilized a randomized block design, with 64 classrooms randomly assigned within schools to treatment (ELM) or control (standard district practices) conditions. Measures of achievement were collected at pretest and posttest to measure student achievement. Students did not differ on mathematics assessments at pretest. Gain scores of at-risk treatment students were significantly greater than control peers, and the gains of at-risk treatment students were greater than the gains of peers not at risk, effectively reducing the achievement gap. Implications for Tier I instruction in a Response to Intervention (RTI) model are discussed.