Identifying Effective, Evidence Based Instructional Practices that Improve Elementary and Middle school student achievement

This slide deck was presented to the South Dakota Department of Education as a response to an Ask and Expert inquiry to assist with identifying what instructional practices in math are backed by evidence of their effectiveness at increasing student achievement for students in upper elementary and middle school grades (i.e., grades 4-8). This presentation discussed common definitions of levels of evidence (e.g., What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA)) and presented the WWC practice guides as a source for evidence-based practices. REL Central then provided evidence-based instructional practices from the math practice guides and aligned these with the Standards for Mathematical Practice in the South Dakota State Standards for Mathematics, identifying the levels of evidence for each practice and summarizing them into concrete strategies for teachers.