What To Do When Your Student Is Struggling With Math

Demme Learning · October 2, 2024 · Leave a Comment It’s no secret that math scores among students in virtually every grade level fell significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although these scores have begun to recover over the last two years, many students struggle in mathematics and have yet to reach their pre-pandemic levels. As the 2024-25 school year commences, carefully planned math interventions can help struggling students build strong mathematical foundations and overcome their difficulties. Early intervention is one piece of the puzzle, but a math education program tailored to student’s specific issues is also key to teaching them essential math skills. With the right approach, parents and teachers can implement intervention strategies for struggling students and help them grasp fundamental math concepts.

Before implementing any math intervention strategies, pinpoint specific areas where a student is struggling. This process involves evaluating their current math skills as well as their understanding of key concepts. Learning math can be tough, especially for struggling students facing complex math concepts and problem solving strategies. Frustration and low confidence often make it hard to stay motivated. Math teachers play a key role in providing support to help students develop skills and gain confidence. By using strategies like visual aids, hands-on activities, and real-world scenarios, educators can support students at their own pace and help them achieve math success.

Struggling students face challenges due to different learning styles, learning disabilities, and gaps in foundational knowledge. Mathematical language can be confusing, making it difficult to solve word problems and understand instructions. Math anxiety can further affect engagement and progress. Without targeted help, these difficulties persist across grade levels. Identifying the root causes allows math teachers to apply intervention strategies that boost confidence and improve math skills effectively. Math teachers play a vital role in helping struggling students by adapting instruction to meet their diverse needs.

Differentiated instruction, peer tutoring, and small groups provide targeted support that aligns with students’ learning styles. Students are barely beginning to recover from a historic decline in math performance. Across every grade and region of the country, students in every racial, income, and disability group have flatlined or lost ground since 2015, wiping out nearly two decades of math progress across the country. These declines have been driven by struggling students who are falling further and further behind. About a quarter of 4th graders and nearly 40 percent of 8th graders—including a majority of Black and Latino students and those from low-income households—cannot meet basic achievement on the National Assessment of Educational... That means they might struggle to find the area of a rectangle or to compare fractions to percentages.

While pandemic-era school disruptions worsened learning loss and achievement gaps and have exacerbated math-teacher shortages in many districts, several areas of math achievement have been on the downward slope for more than a decade. In particular, 4th and 8th grade students continue to decline in geometry skills, which have not rebounded at all since the pandemic. Many teachers report having less time to cover a wide variety of math topics with students across disparate achievement levels. A nationally representative survey of educators conducted by the EdWeek Research Center this spring shows how the bell curve has flattened in many classrooms. More than 60 percent of math teachers said their lowest-performing students trail two, three, or even more years below grade level, while nearly 70 percent of math teachers said their highest-achieving students work at... Effective math interventions are essential for helping learners build foundational skills, close gaps, and develop confidence in their mathematical thinking.

With so many instructional approaches out there, it’s essential to focus on strategies grounded in research to make the most of valuable time and effort. This article is written for math teachers, interventionists, instructional coaches, and curriculum coordinators dedicated to implementing what works: evidence-based practices proven to support students who struggle. Math intervention refers to targeted approaches that help students who are struggling in one or more areas of mathematics reach grade-level proficiency. Intervention can happen at all tier levels and the ideas in this blog are applicable across all tiers. As educators, one of our fundamental motivations is seeing students achieve. Effective math intervention matters because it provides structured support for students to reach and exceed grade-level expectations.

When we successfully equip students to meet these benchmarks, we significantly increase their likelihood of graduation and pursuit of higher education—outcomes we all aspire to see in our students. Not all math interventions are created equal! In today's diverse classrooms, math educators face the persistent challenge of helping students build both skills and confidence. With numerous instructional approaches available, focusing on evidence-based practices—approaches proven by research to make a meaningful difference—becomes essential. These methods not only maximize our limited time and resources but ensure every student has a genuine opportunity to succeed in mathematics. There are so many opinions about everything these days, the question is How do we know what’s effective?.

Too often, well-intended classroom activities yield minimal results in terms of actual student achievement. Many educators default to approaches learned from colleagues or simply continue practices that have "always been done." Fortunately, we don’t have to leave things to chance, we have a wealth of research that points... However, research clearly demonstrates that certain classroom practices deliver substantially better outcomes for learners. Have you ever found yourself standing before your class, explaining a math concept for the umpteenth time, only to see a sea of confused faces staring back at you? It’s a moment many educators experience, signaling a disconnect that’s neither the fault of the teacher nor the students. This common scenario underscores the urgent need for effective math intervention strategies to address diverse learning needs.

Watch your kids fall in love with math & reading through our scientifically designed curriculum. In this blog, we’ll dive deep into math intervention strategies, outlining what they are and how you can implement them to make a real difference in your student’s learning journey. At its core, math intervention is a targeted approach designed to help students overcome the hurdles they face with mathematical concepts. Unlike the broad strokes of regular math instruction, math intervention zooms in on specific challenges, offering a lifeline to those who find themselves adrift in a sea of numbers and equations. The primary goal of math intervention is straightforward: to ensure every student achieves proficiency in math by addressing their individual learning gaps. This is done through various intervention strategies for math, which are tailored to meet the unique needs of each student.

The strategies deployed are as diverse as the learners, from one-on-one tutoring sessions to small group work. Any student can become an expert mathematician through hard work and continuous practice. One of the challenging parts of being an educator is teaching to the wide range of abilities in the classroom. In this article, we'll explore eight strategies that will help struggling math students. Plus, download free resources to assist you in supporting all math learners! As you walk down the hallway of an elementary or middle school, it is not uncommon to overhear students' say: “I can’t do math,” “I will never have to use this,” or “math is...

Luckily, there are lots of strategies that math teachers can use to support struggling students. A common misconception is that math is black and white; you either can do it or you can’t. In reality, math offers plenty of room for students to explore, experiment, and unveil the patterns from which operations, rules, and mathematical phenomena are derived. Download the 5 Strategies to Help Struggling Math Learners Tip Sheet now. Mathematics has the potential to inspire wonder and foster creativity. Deeper than counting and arithmetic, math can provide irrefutable proof of grand ideas and predict new scientific discoveries.

Yet for so many students, math feels inaccessible. As educators usher in a new generation of problem solvers, one of their biggest challenges relates to current math proficiency levels. This article provides strategies to help educators maximize and accelerate students’ growth, no matter where they are on their mathematical journeys. In broadest terms, math interventions are ways to help students who are behind in their math learning. However, for many educators, the meaning of math intervention is the support provided specifically to students who are two or more grade levels behind in a math topic. Some schools offer dedicated classes—frequently with a smaller class size and more than one teacher—for these students who would benefit from intensive math intervention.

Interventions can also be given in the course of core math instruction to individual students or small groups. The strategies described in this article can be thought of as Response to Intervention (RTI) math strategies. RTI is a commonly used multi-tiered system of supports for interventions within the core classroom. In this system, students’ instruction is structured with three tiers: Math intervention strategies impact how effective interventions are and how quickly they can accelerate a student’s learning. Math intervention that uses evidence-based strategies prepares students to succeed now and in the future.

This article aims to help teachers and interventionists identify which intervention strategies can help individual students close their math gaps. Math intervention strategies are teaching strategies that math teachers and tutors use to strengthen students’ skills. Often, they reteach core math skills explored in class using evidence-based strategies, like explicit instruction, visual representation, the use of manipulatives, and formative assessment. Effective mathematics intervention strategies are practices that teachers can in an MTSS intervention or RTI use to teach and reinforce math learning and mathematical concepts. Math can be a daunting subject for many students, especially those who find themselves falling behind. Teachers and educators know that effective math intervention is crucial to ensuring every student succeeds.

But with the increasing pressure to meet learning targets and the diverse needs of students, how can teachers provide the right support? The key is to mix and match math intervention strategies to meet individual student needs and create an inclusive learning environment. The more tools an educator has at their disposal, the better they can address the varying levels of proficiency and learning styles in their classroom. Whether it’s using personalized feedback, interactive tools, or targeted teaching methods, having a wide range of approaches will ensure that no student is left behind. In this blog, we’ll dive into various math intervention strategies and how leveraging interactive tools and AI-powered solutions can make a real difference in your classroom. Math intervention involves targeted instructional practices aimed at helping students who are struggling with math concepts.

These interventions are designed to provide additional support, whether it’s through individualized attention, specialized programs, or using tools to enhance learning. Effective math intervention addresses specific areas of weakness, such as understanding basic operations, improving problem-solving skills, or developing a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. The goal is not only to help students catch up but also to build their confidence. 9:00 am By Proud to be Primary 1 Comment Students struggling with concepts in the classroom need extra attention to help them catch up. Math intervention strategies can be easily implemented in small groups throughout the week to help students right where they are.

We have all had students who aren’t grasping the math concepts being taught. These students need extra guidance to understand the topics at hand. Math interventions will help students catch up to their peers and understand the skills being taught. Here are some strategies to implement in the classroom to help students. Think about math intervention as a way to help students who are behind in the skills being taught in the classroom. They are targeted strategies implemented by the teacher to help students get the support they need to understand the material being taught at grade level.

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