Fusion

Fusion is a Tier 2 first-grade mathematics intervention designed for students at risk in whole-number concepts and skills. Students are taught in small groups of approximately five students and receive 60 lessons, each lasting 30 minutes, delivered over a period of 20 weeks. Each lesson includes the explicit introduction of new content and systematic practice and review in four to five brief, scripted mathematics activities. Lessons use a variety of math models and contain teacher modeling, scaffolded instructional examples, and opportunities for teachers to provide academic feedback based on student responses to individual and group questions. Two mathematical domains in the first-grade Common Core State Standards—Operations and Algebraic Thinking and Number and Operations in Base Ten—form the basis of Fusion content. The first half of the curriculum emphasizes number sense, basic number combinations, and place-value concepts. During the second half of the curriculum, students encounter multidigit computation without regrouping and word-problem solving. Interventionists participated in two 3-hour professional development workshops before implementation.