Yolanda+Lyons+Module+4

I choose to use the middle intervention strategy. Which is offering an after school math program. This program will target students whoare struggling in math based on previous math standardized test scores and current classroom math grades. Teachers will use hands on material when teaching.This will include base ten blocks, place value mats, multiplication and division math cards, and playing cards for place value games. A variety of math websites will also be used. Math software programs such as Education City, SuccessMaker, and Study Island that target math skills will be the technology portion of this intervention. Parents and other local volunteers will assist math teachers in the classroom during math instruction to give extra assistance to students. Monthly conferences will be held between parent, teacher, math coach,and student to see what math skills the student is struggling with and how tosolve the issue. This intervention was chosen because it is less expensive than the high intervention. The only limitation is finding enough volunteers to help in the classrooms. According to the math coach, “Students learn better when there is a low teacher to student ration when learning” (Kirkwood, Christen. Personal interview. 23 July 2011). **How students’ progress will be tracked, stored, and tracked** At the beginning of the after school math program students will take a math test that is similar to a standardized test. During the middle and end of the math program students will take another math test. The students’scores will be charted to see how much progress is made and in what areas. Math educational software will be used to target certain math skills that students need additional help with. The feedback will be relayed to the teachers and math coach. The teachers and math coach will then spend extra time on targeting math skills students struggle with. **The role of the manager** The manager will take a leadership role. He or she wil lcreate an “Environment where people can succeed and where workplace performance will improve” (Chevalier, 2007, p.24). The manager will make sure seasoned math teachers are chosen for the after school math program. This will include teachers who have taught over 5 years and have high standardized test scores in math.The manager will be responsible in recruiting volunteers to assist in theclassroom. The manager will seek out parents that have bachelor degrees or higher to assist in the classroom. Lastly, the manager will make sure teachers are holding monthly conferences with parents of students who are struggling in math based off of classroom grades.
 * Intervention chosen**

**Interventions not chosen** I didn’t choose the low intervention plan because I didn’tthink it went far enough when it came to targeting students’ performance in math. Teachers sending home newsletters and being part of book studies that highlights what great teachers should do in the classroom especially how teachers approach standardized testing does not go far enough in helping students learn math skills. Teachers would also join the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics or a similar national math organization to keep current on math ideas. Joining this organization will give teachers an over view of how to better teach math skills but may not go in debt enough, and don’t offer communication between the teacher and organization when trying to get answersto problems that arise when teaching math.

I didn’t choose the high intervention which would includethe school hiring teachers who have elementary or middle school math educationdegree or degrees. The school would choose teachers who had this degree as wellas teachers who had 5 years of teaching experience in math. The goal is to give bonuses to teachers who retain these qualities and recruit them to Hopkins Elementary School. This plan is too costly and will take too long to implement.Changes in math scores need to happen quickly. The strengths behind this plan was that all teachers teaching math would have a solid foundation on math skills and have experience teaching math in a variety of forms.