Examination of the Impact of Students' Skill Levels on the Effectiveness of Evidence-Based Interventions for Improving Mathematics Fluency

In recent years, many schools have attempted to address the academic difficulties of students with the use of response to intervention (RTI). RTI is a framework for matching instructional interventions with students' academic skills in order to inform high-quality, evidence-based instruction. Numerous interventions, which have been derived from the acquisition and fluency stages of the instructional hierarchy, have been found to be effective. The present study employed a single-case multiple baseline across subjects design with an embedded alternating treatments design to examine the impact of students' instructional level on the effectiveness of various interventions (fluency, peer tutoring, and combined, which included both performance feedback and peer tutoring) on the fluency scores for single-digit multiplication. The performance feedback intervention included feedback regarding number of correct responses within a two-minute period, which targeted fluency, while the peer tutoring intervention included a single-response repetition component that targeted accuracy. Results indicated that the performance feedback and peer tutoring interventions were not consistently effective, while the combined intervention was effective for students who began the study in the instructional range. Increased Digits Correct per Minute (DCPM) scores positively correlated with generalization measures and students reported that they enjoyed the interventions and found them to be useful.