Find the best evidence-based interventions for your students

Reading Recovery

1st Grade

Reading Recovery is a short-term early intervention designed to help the lowest-achieving readers in first grade reach average levels of classroom performance in literacy. Students identified to receive Reading Recovery meet individually with a specially trained Reading Recovery (RR) teacher every school day for 30-minute lessons over a period of 12 to 20 weeks. The intervention targets the lowest-achieving 15-20 percent of 1st-grade readers. RR teachers are trained through a year-long academic program that includes graduate coursework, behind-the-glass training sessions, and ongoing professional development. The intervention includes daily one-on-one lessons with a structured format: re-reading familiar books, running records, word/letter work, story composition, assembling cut-up sentences, and reading new books. RR teachers also assess students using the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement and maintain detailed records of student progress.

2013

High

12 Weeks

Cost per student

$3,235.85

Reading Recovery

1st Grade

Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention that provides one-on-one tutoring to first-grade students who are struggling in reading. The supplementary program aims to promote literacy skills and foster the development of reading strategies by tailoring individualized lessons to each student. Tutoring is delivered by Reading Recovery teachers in 30-minute pull-out sessions, which include reading familiar books, story composition, assembling stories using cut-up sentences, and previewing and reading new books. Sessions are held daily for 12-20 weeks. Reading Recovery teachers receive extensive training on the design and implementation of Reading Recovery lessons, documenting lesson activities, and collecting data to track student progress and inform lesson planning.

2014

High

12 Weeks

Cost per student

$2,708.33

Interleaved Mathematics Practice

7th Grade

Interleaved Mathematics Practice is an instructional approach for seventh-grade mathematics students that reorganizes practice problems so that different types of problems appear in mixed order rather than grouped by problem type. Instead of completing a block of 12 problems all requiring the same strategy (blocked practice), students receive assignments where problems of different kinds are interleaved and no two consecutive problems require the same strategy. This approach requires students to choose the appropriate mathematical strategy for each problem based on the problem itself, rather than knowing the strategy in advance. The intervention was implemented over a nine-week period with 10 assignments of 12 problems each, delivered by regular classroom teachers. Teachers received paper copies of assignments and slide presentations with solved examples and solutions to present before and after students completed each assignment.

2014

9 Weeks

Cost per student

N/A

Fraction Face-Off!

4th Grade

Fraction Face-Off! is a math instruction program designed to improve knowledge of fractions and decimals in fourth-graders at risk for low mathematics achievement. The program is delivered in small groups of three students by trained tutors and consists of three 30-minute lessons per week for 12 weeks. The curriculum emphasizes a measurement approach to fractions using number lines, fraction tiles, and fraction circles to teach fraction concepts and calculations. Each lesson includes teacher instruction, student group work, supplemental activities, and individual student work. Two versions were studied: a fluency version with strategic speed activities using flashcards to automate problem solving, and a conceptual version with manipulatives to encourage reasoning. Tutors participated in a week-long workshop training followed by bi-weekly 1-hour trainings focused on lesson content, student behavior management, and responding to varying student skill levels.

2014

Low

7 Weeks

Cost per student

$212.31

Fraction Challenge

4th Grade

Fraction Challenge is a 12-week intervention designed to improve fourth-grade at-risk students' understanding of fractions through small-group tutoring (3 students per tutor). The intervention emphasizes conceptual understanding with a primary focus on the measurement interpretation of fractions using number lines, fraction tiles, and fraction circles, supplemented by part-whole interpretation and fair shares representations. Instruction includes 36 lessons taught 3 times per week for 30 minutes per session. The program teaches students to compare, order, and place fractions on a 0-to-1 number line, introduces fractions equivalent to 1/2, and develops chunking and segmenting strategies. Procedural instruction (addition and subtraction with like and unlike denominators) is introduced in Lesson 22 after establishing conceptual foundations. The intervention compensates for at-risk students' limitations in working memory, attentive behavior, processing speed, and listening comprehension through efficient strategies, automaticity building with marker fractions, simplified language, frequent comprehension checks, and a behavior management system using checkmarks and a classroom store. Denominators are limited to 12 and exclude 7, 9, and 11 to reduce computational demands.

2013

Low

7 Weeks

Cost per student

$198.98

Diagnostic Assessment Tools (DAT)

Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade

Diagnostic Assessment Tools (DAT) consists of two interim diagnostic assessment software packages aligned to Indiana state standards and grade-level expectations for students in grades K-8. For grades K-2, DAT uses Wireless Generation's mCLASS, which includes brief DIEBELS reading probes administered individually via personal digital assistant and pencil-and-paper math assessments. For grades 3-8, DAT uses CTB/McGraw-Hill's Acuity, which includes seven online multiple-choice tests in reading or mathematics (four diagnostic assessments and three predictive assessments). Both assessment packages are accompanied by progress monitoring tools, instructional tools, and online support systems that allow teachers to assess student performance on state standards and identify students performing at different achievement levels. Teachers at intervention schools received training on how to use these tools and were instructed to use them to monitor student progress and adjust instruction to student needs with the goal of improving student achievement. Training was delivered using a train-the-trainer model, with 1-4 volunteer teachers from each school receiving 2-3 days of summer training from the state and assessment vendors, followed by another training in the fall, after which these teachers delivered 2-3 training sessions to other teachers at their schools within 6 months.

2015

36 Weeks

Cost per student

N/A

Teacher Transfer Initiative

3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade

The Teacher Transfer Initiative (TTI) is a program that enables principals of low-performing schools to provide financial bonuses to high-performing teachers when they transfer to and stay in the low-performing schools. Eligible teachers must be in the top 20% in their district on student test score growth and teach grades 3-8. Teachers who fill vacant positions through TTI can receive up to $20,000 in bonuses over 2 academic years, paid out in five installments contingent upon both transferring into and remaining in the targeted school. The program targets schools serving the lowest-performing students in the district. Transferring teachers receive a brief orientation.

2015

72 Weeks

Cost per student

N/A

CATS Math Video Games

6th Grade

CATS (Center for Advanced Technology in Schools) developed eight computer-based learning games targeting foundational pre-algebra concepts for sixth-grade students. Four games focused on fractions concepts (Wiki Jones, Save Patch, Tlaloc's Book, and Rosie's Rates) covering number line concepts, fraction addition, multiplicative inverse operations, and direct variation. Students played games for at least 40 minutes per period over 10 gameplay days, with 2-4 periods per game. Teachers received 3 hours of professional development training split into two 1.5-hour sessions covering mathematical concepts, common student errors, game mechanics, and classroom integration strategies.

2014

2 Weeks

Cost per student

N/A

My Teaching Partner–Secondary (MTP-S)

6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

My Teaching Partner–Secondary (MTP-S) is a coaching program designed to improve teacher-student interactions in secondary classrooms with students aged 11 to 18 to enhance student motivation and achievement. The program uses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) framework to target emotional climate, sensitivity to student needs for autonomy, varied instructional modalities, and higher-order thinking. MTP-S integrates initial workshop-based training, an annotated video library, and personalized coaching over one school year followed by a brief booster workshop. During the school year, teachers submit video recordings of class sessions approximately twice a month, which trained consultants review and use to select brief segments illustrating positive interactions or areas for growth. Teachers observe their behavior and student reactions via a password-protected website, then participate in 20- to 30-minute phone conferences with consultants to strategize about enhancing interactions. The intervention requires approximately 20 hours of teacher in-service training spread across 13 months, with full costs of $3,700 per teacher for consultants and video equipment.

2011

High

Cost per student

$2,191.7

We Have Skills!

Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade

We Have Skills! (WHS) is a supplemental, video-based social skills program for early elementary students in grades K-3. The intervention incorporates three components: instructional materials (including lesson plans, instructional videos, and supplemental activities), teacher professional development, and student assessment. Lessons include two main segments: a 5- to 10-minute discussion using questions from the lesson plan, and a 5-minute video lesson covering seven different social skills (how to listen, ask for help, follow directions, do the best you can, follow the rules, work out strong feelings, and get along). Instruction is delivered over eight weekly sessions beginning 3 weeks after the start of the school year, supplemented with guided practice activities, homework, and reinforcement components including skill tickets, tally sheets, parent notes, and certificates. Materials include skills booklets, coloring pages, picture cards with feelings, and posters. Teachers receive 1 hour of training in administering the WHS intervention and receive lesson plans and intervention materials for their classrooms.

2015

11 Weeks

Cost per student

N/A

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