Schema-based word-problem intervention with and without embedded language comprehension instruction [Word problem intervention (with or without language instruction) vs. control]
Fuchs, L. S., Seethaler, P. M., Sterba, S. K., Craddock, C., Fuchs, D., Compton, D. L., Geary, D. C., & Changas, P. (2019). Vanderbilt University.
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examining299Students, grade1
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2020
- Practice Guide (findings for Targeted Math Intervention)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arithmetic Combinations (Fuchs Hamlett & Powell 2003) |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Aggregated sample: Word problem solving (with and without language instruction) vs. control;
|
24.46 |
16.16 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
First grade word problems (Fuchs et al. 2009) |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Aggregated sample: Aggregated sample: Word problem solving (with & without language instruction) vs. control ;
|
8.62 |
3.36 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Word problem-language assessment |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Aggregated sample: Word problem solving (with & without language instruction) vs. control;
|
14.20 |
13.41 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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38% English language learners -
Female: 61%
Male: 39% -
Race Black 36% Other or unknown 7% White 57% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 36% Not Hispanic or Latino 64%
Study Details
Setting
The study comprises first-grade students at risk (AR) for mathematical difficulties from 186 classrooms of 21 elementary schools presumably in the United States. The exact location is not specified.
Study sample
Within the analytic sample of the contrast covered in this SRG (Word problem solving (with & without language instruction) vs. control), 39 percent were male, 61 percent were female, 36 percent were Black, 57 percent were White, 7 percent were another race, 36 percent were Hispanic, 38 percent were English-learners, and 78 percent were considered economically disadvantaged. The sample excluded youth with scores below 80 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale because the intervention was not intended for youth with intellectual disabilities. The sample also excluded those that mainly did not speak English.
Intervention Group
For this review, the intervention condition was the combined word problem solving with language and without language intervention groups. Both the word problem solving with language and word problem solving without language groups shared the following four characteristics: i) each intervention comprised 45 30-minute sessions conducted one-on-one over 15 weeks outside the classroom in the student’s school; ii) instruction was explicit, designed to compensate for the domain-general cognitive and linguistic limitations associated with word problem difficulty; iii) the intervention includes a self-regulation system to mitigate attention, motivation, and self-regulation difficulties; and iv) each session comprises three segments: speeded practice on arithmetic problems (5 minutes); the lesson (20 minutes); and practice (5 minutes). The word problem without language intervention, known as Pirate Math, is organized in five units: Unit 1 (lessons 1-9) addresses adding and subtracting concepts, addition and subtraction counting strategies, and solving for a missing number; Unit 2 (lessons 10-18) focuses on total problems (combining two or three quantities to make a total); Unit 3 (lessons 19-27) focuses on difference problems (comparing a larger and a smaller quantity to find the difference); Unit 4 (lessons 28-36) focuses on change problems (increasing or decreasing a start quantity to produce an end quantity; and Unit 5 (lessons 37-45) introduced a sorting game where students decide whether a problem is total, difference, or change. The embedded language comprehension component of the word problem with language condition addresses word problem language relevant to the first-grade word problem schemas.
Comparison Group
The comparison condition in this contrast is a business as usual control condition in which students received the typical mathematics instruction. The authors do not provide more details on what this condition received.
Support for implementation
Across all intervention conditions, 54 full or part-time hired tutors implemented the intervention. Each worked with 5-6 students. Tutors participated in a two-day workshop introducing them to the intervention program and then were supported in the implementation of the program via weekly meetings during the 15 weeks of intervention.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).