title: Effects of a Multitier Support System on Calculation, Word Problem, and Prealgebraic Performance Among At-Risk Learners.
abstract: The focus of the present study was enhancing word-problem and calculation achievement in ways that support pre-algebraic thinking among 2nd-grade students at risk for mathematics difficulty. Intervention relied on a multi-tier support system (i.e., responsiveness-to-intervention or RTI) in which at-risk students participate in general classroom instruction and receive supplementary small-group tutoring. Participants were 265 students in 110 classrooms in 25 schools. Teachers were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: calculation RTI, word-problem RTI, and business-as-usual control. Intervention lasted 17 weeks. Multilevel modeling indicated that calculation RTI improved calculation but not word-problem outcomes; word-problem RTI enhanced proximal word-problem outcomes as well as performance on some calculation outcomes; and word-problem RTI provided a stronger route than calculation RTI to pre-algebraic knowledge.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University.
authors.forename: Lynn S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: University of Houston.
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Cirino
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Donald L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.affiliation: Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Changas
keywords: Response to Intervention; calculation; mathematics; pre-algebra; word problems