Math Intervention Without a Math Specialist: Making It Work in Small Schools

About this episode

This episode discusses how small schools can effectively implement math interventions without a dedicated math specialist.

You know your students are struggling with fractions. You've got the data showing significant gaps across grades 3-5. You've implemented SpringMath and created intervention blocks. But here's the problem: you don't have a math specialist, and you're not getting one anytime soon. Sound familiar? In this episode, we tackle the challenge facing hundreds of small elementary schools: how do you deliver effective, research-based math intervention when your staff are generalists, not math experts? We synthesize frameworks from leading intervention researchers—Codding, Volpe, Poncy, Riccomini, Witzel, Barton, and Schuhl & Kanold—to answer the practical questions principals actually face: Can your classroom teachers deliver quality Tier 2 intervention when some of them struggle with fractions themselves? Should your special education teachers focus exclusively on Tier 3, or can they support broader intervention efforts? Can paraprofessionals run intervention groups with the right materials and training? And most importantly: can your grade-level PLC teams, working collaboratively, compensate for the lack of a math specialist? We explore four real scenarios from a small 3-5 school…

Topics covered

• math intervention
• small schools
• education
• fractions
• teacher training

Keywords

• research-based
• Tier 2 intervention
• special education
• PLC teams

Mentioned in this episode

Products: SpringMath

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