Research Articles For Structured Maths Approach

Hattie (2009) talks about anything more than 0.4 effect size having accelerated student learning.
Using the I do, we do, you do model is 0.57 in effect size! You know you're doing the right job in SMA then! 

This is evidence based and a critical action for educators in the classroom. The rest of this paper shares many more evidence based priorities, interventions and supports.

Principles of instruction: 10 research-based strategies that all teachers should know (Rosenshine, 2012)

This offers a comprehensive synthesis of research sharing foundational strategies that enhance teaching and learning! This poster representation is a 'prettier' version of all the research Rosenshine shared, created by Jamie Clark.

Lizzie from Everyday shared this reading with me which is a short but powerful one. Cognitive Load Theory is all around the theory of how the human brain learns and stores knowledge. It talks about cognitive overload and how that can happen for a student; and how explicit models of instruction support cognitive load theory. 

Number sense noted by Jordan, Devlin and Botello (2022) is to be the weaved understandings of number, number relations and number operations. Showing how important it is that students are developing and building their fluency to be able to prepare children for success. 

When students have fluency with a foundational aspect of mathematics, that foundation is related to later mathematics performance, being drawn upon to have fluency and understanding. 

Building number sense and fluency are built into SMA, to build on those opportunities to develop knowledge, repeated learning experiences to become fluent and lay a strong foundation of skills to be built upon! 

Gradual Release of Responsibility

This image comes from the Curriculum, Pedagogy, Assessment and Reporting framework from Northern Territories but unpacks how explicit teaching and gradual release of responsibility can align together to support you in the classroom. 

This has great prompts for teachers and how you can address each part of the gradual release of responisbility. 

Explicit Instruction

Another great visual to summarise Archer and Hughes (2011) about explicit instruction to help teachers create outcomes that direct, engage and are success orientated. 

The key takeaways are definitely around an explicit lesson structure with teacher modelling, guided practice and unprompted practice. This is where the I do, we do and you do gradual release of responsibility comes in as well as teachers and students: 

- work through those clear modelled think alouds

- to a guided practice with scaffolds to build success 

- and opportunities to review 

CPA Approach

CPA approach was created by Jerome Brunner in 1966. It focuses on scaffolding students through concrete, pictorial and abstract learning to use effective representations and connect with learning. 

The key takeaways for the CPA approach is that students need to have exposure to all three at a variety of times. These link nicely with the gradual release of responsibility and also interweave with using Structured Maths Approach. Like anything, students need to work through new learning in multiple ways which Structured Maths Approach supports and plans for in its lesson plans. 

Maths proficiency is noted here to be the blending of concepts, procedures, strategies, reasoning and disposition within learning. How we can help students build their understanding of concepts, to use a range of procedures and strategies to solve problems and to build reason with our number talks and justifications. 

What I particularly like is the unpacking around the importance of having a clear and focused progression of learning. That students thrive when having learning built on previous skills in a way that is focused on the weaving and blending but also aligning with their cognitive load. Having learning spaced out logically and progressively that is explicitly teaching the skills needed to be successful in the classroom. This is one of the underpinning pillars of success with SMA and why students thrive from the clear and focused progression from Year 0-8. Knowing their learning is built on over time, bringing in curriculum progress outcomes in a manageable way that has success for students. 

"The key of successful differentiation may not merely be placing students in groups but actually adapting the teaching to the needs of different ability groups". Talking about differentiating through grouping, materials, task and assignments, pace and time, questions, activities and explanation/instruction. 

A key point being teachers need to have knowledge about the students and knowledge about the subject-matter in order to have successful differentiation. 

Linking back to SMA, differentiation within lessons is easily created with the use of the scope and sequence being able to move fluidly across phases to build on ideas, key learning outcomes and application of those skills. Teachers can use whole class learning opportunities for 'high stakes ceiling' outcomes and then differentiated groups to support learning. Materials are not dictated and teachers use explicit instruction to deliver the lessons with the gradual release of responsibility to do so.

High impact teaching strategies (HITS) are ten instructional practices that increase student learning in the classroom. These cover a wide range of aspects that include their effect size and the contribution they have on education intervention. 

My favourite is all around differentiated teaching with a 1.07 effect size that builds on the understanding of individual student needs, setting high expectations, using a range of strategies and more. Differentiation is a key targeted intervention that requires the direct planning from a teacher but also a deep understanding of students. This makes huge links to Structured Maths Approach and the way the resource can be differentiated to support learners, their next steps and targeted support in the lessons. 

This website is a great read on the difference between differentiation and scaffolding. Both very important for mathematics teaching but also very different. 

The great thing about this website is the comparison chart that helps give teachers ideas on how they can differentiate and also scaffold in their class; with the inclusion of the gradual release of responsibility which is something interwoven into Structured Maths Approach. 

When teachers run SMA lessons, they are naturally incorporating both of these in their instructional strategies which are helpful to adapt to the needs of all our learners.