Learn how Rocky Ridge Elementary Principal, Michelle Fox, was able to help Rocky Ridge students make significant gains in math by working with teachers to implement a system of standards-based math assessments and interventions.

1. Strategic Math Warfare
Fighting to help our
students understand the
math they need to know
Michelle Fox
Principal
Rocky Ridge Elementary
Bethel School District

2. By Sun Tzu

4. Lieutenant General Michelle Fox
• Who am I?
– Teacher of Grades 3-10
– Instructional Math Coach/Math Enthusiast
– Administrator
• Assistant Principal in the Puyallup School District
• Math Improvement Administrator Assigned to Three
Schools in Improvement in Puyallup
• Principal at Rocky Ridge Elementary in the Bethel
School District – 2nd Year

5. “Now the general who wins a battle
makes many calculations in his temple ere
the battle is fought.
The general who loses a battle makes but
few calculations beforehand. Thus do
many calculations lead to victory, and few
calculations to defeat: how much more no
calculation at all! It is by attention to this
point that I can foresee who is likely to
win or lose.” – Sun Tsu

6. Fighting Alongside our Troops

7. The Art of Math Warfare
1.
2.
3.
4.
Laying Plans (Giles, 1910)
Waging War (Giles, 1910)
The Plan of Attack (Wing, 1988)
Military Disposition (Chow Hou-wee, 2003)

8. Laying Plans ~ Our Challenge
How do we help ALL of our students:
1. Learn the essential math content in the
standards
2. Develop conceptual understanding and
procedural proficiency
3. Employ the use of multiple strategies
4. Develop mastery of concepts and skills

9. Begin with the End in Mind

10. Welcome to Rocky Ridge Elementary
Where Tomorrow’s Dreams Inspire Today’s Actions
• Changing the Culture – Positive Behavioral
Interventions
• Schoolwide Classroom Management and
Discipline Plan
• Master Scheduling
– Block Scheduling
– Focus on Reading and Math
– Weekly Collaboration/Common Planning
• Reshaping RTI – Data Based Decision Making

11. Essential Components of RTI
http://www.rti4success.org/

12. Data-Based Decision Making
Data-based decision making is very important in
the RTI framework. One could be implementing
all the other components: screening, progress
monitoring, and multi-level prevention system,
but without data-based decision making, RTI is
not really being implemented.
http://www.rti4success.org/categorycontents/databased_decision_making

13. Lieutenant Jane Hatzinger
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
5th Grade Master Teacher at Rocky Ridge
One of three members of the 5th Grade Team
Team Leader
25 students
5 Special Education
3 ELL
66% Free and Reduced Lunch

14. Initial Impressions
of Last Year’s Class
• Lacked Number
Sense and
Computational
Fluency
• No Real World
Connections
• Lack of Math
Vocabulary
• Lack of Math Skill
• Huge Gaping Holes

15. Seeking Wise Counsel – What Does
Research Tell Us?

16. Keys to Success!
• Formed a professional learning community
• Focused on student work (through
assessment)
• Changed their instructional practice
accordingly to get better results
• Did all of this on a continuing basis
M. Fullan, “The Three Stories of Education Reform,”
Phi Delta Kappan, April 2000.
16

17. The POWER of Common Assessments
“Schools with the greatest
improvements in student
achievement consistently
used common assessments.“
Douglas Reeves, Accountability In Action (2004)
17

18. How Much of a Difference Can Formative
Assessments Make?
• Black and Wiliam (1998)
examined 250 research studies
on classroom assessment that
focused on the question, does
formative assessment improve
learning?
• Through this examination, they
discovered that the achievement
gains are “among the largest
ever reported for education
interventions.”
• Black and Wiliam concluded that
if mathematics teachers were to
focus their efforts on formative
classroom assessment, student
learning gains would be
18
significant.

19. The POTENTIAL of Common Assessments
"There is a body of firm evidence that formative
assessment is an essential component of classroom
work and that its development can raise standards
of achievement. We know of no other way of
raising standards for which such a strong prima
facie case can be made."
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998, October 1). Inside the black box: Raising standards
through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan
19

21. Waging War
• A Five-Pronged Attack
– Computational Fluency
– Conceptual Understanding
– Procedural Proficiency
– Strategic Competence
– Adaptive Reasoning
National Research Council,
Adding it Up, 2001

22. Adding it Up
(1) Conceptual understanding refers to the “integrated and
functional grasp of mathematical ideas”, which “enables them
[students] to learn new ideas by connecting those ideas to what
they already know.” A few of the benefits of building conceptual
understanding are that it supports retention, and prevents
common errors.
(2) Procedural fluency is defined as the skill in carrying out
procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately.
(3) Strategic competence is the ability to formulate, represent,
and solve mathematical problems.
(4) Adaptive reasoning is the capacity for logical thought,
reflection, explanation, and justification.
(5) Productive disposition is the inclination to see mathematics
as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in
diligence and one’s own efficacy. (NRC, 2001, p. 116)

23. A Case Study:
51% Improvement on MSP
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Not Meeting
Meeting
2012
2013

24. On the Front Lines of the Battle
Grade 5 at Rocky Ridge:
• Signed up for duty from day one – early
adopters
• Began using the MBSP and explicitly taught
basic math computation in small groups
• Transitioned into Standards-Based Formative
Assessment using Common Formative
Assessments and Diagnostic Unit Assessments

25. Contributing Factors to 56%
Increase in Percent of
Students Meeting Standard
• From 16% Meeting Standard to
72% Meeting Standard – Same
Cohort of Students
• Commitment to Collaboration
• Weekly PLC Meetings
• Focus on Data
• Consistently Followed the
Assessment and Intervention
Plan
• Taught Math a Minimum of 6075 Minutes/Day
• 30 Minutes of Small Group
Intervention Daily

26. The Plan of Attack

27. Three Types of Assessments
1. Math Computation Assessments
– Fuchs & Fuchs MBSP Computation Screeners/Progress
Monitoring
– MBSP as a Diagnostic Computation Assessment
2. Common Formative Assessments
– Used throughout units of instruction to assess learning and
inform teaching
3. Diagnostic Unit Assessments/Interim Assessments
– Aligned to to the Washington State Core Content Standards in
Math
– Used to identify students needing intervention and inform
instruction
27

28. Math Computation Assessments
Basic Training for the First 6-8 Weeks

29. Monthly Computational
Assessments
• Computational Fluency
Timed Assessments
• Gave a Snapshot of the
Class
• Guided Interventions
• Identified Students
lacking in Conceptual
Understanding
• Monthly Progress
Monitoring

30. MBSP Computation Screeners and
Progress Monitoring
Name
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Ben An
Ramone Canley
Alex Conley
Jacob Eidson
Zoe Felies
Hanna Hansen
Tristin Jones
Connor Kaczkowski
Alondra Moreno Lopez
Dakota Morris
Lizann Naputi
Jared Pecheos
makenna Reiman
Victor Renteria
Corbin Robinett
Janissa Sawyer
Derek Scott
Kaitlyn Shaffer
Rebecca Shchelgokov
Caitlyn Shepard
Kaydra Silva
David Stoops
Lilyann Flores
Kyndal Thomas
Alyssa Stoner
Brayden Cook
Will Moore
Average Monthly Score
Average Monthy Increase/Decrease
Sept - Screener
2
6
5
0
16
2
9
9
8
3
15
8
14
5
21
4
5
17
10
6
9
7
3
October November
2
1
3
4
6
6
6
5
7
0
6
4
8
3
16
3
1
4
3
2
4
4
1
2
8.00
4.21
3
6
4
8
11
7
10
9
9
5
10
7
8
2
21
5
0
6
8
8
10
7
6
9
December January February March
3
4
13
8
14
10
9
6
12
4
16
8
11
4
18
6
1
7
11
10
14
10
4
7
7
7.46
3.25
6
16
10
7
14
11
18
12
14
4
17
10
16
4
22
6
5
9
17
17
20
13
7
N/A
11
10
8.68
1.22
11.84
3.16
April Screener
May
June
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
3
4
absent
20
19
21
11
14
13
8
11
17
20
23
20
10
8
13
17
16
19
12
20
24
12
17
19
7
10
9
24
22
23
12
13
13
15
16
19
3
3
6
25
25
25
withdrew withdrew withdrew
4
6
6
10
10
12
20
21
21
11
11
9
23
25
25
13
18
17
10
11
9
withdrew withdrew withdrew
14
12
13
22
17
24
24
21
13.58
1.74
15.04
1.46
16.58
1.54

31. MBSP as a Diagnostic
Computation Assessment
4th Grade Computation - September Screener (3rd Grade Standards)
Student Names
Addition with
Regrouping (3)
Subtraction with
Subtract
Regrouping (no with Regroup
zeros)
(with zeros)
(2)
(3)
Mult with
Regroup
(2)
Multiplication Basic Facts (9)
Division Basic Facts
(5)
K
ANGELINA
ANTHONY
BRANDEN
CADEN
CARSON
CONNOR
DAMIEN
DANIEL
ETHEN
GRACIE
HAILEY
HUNTER
IVAN
JAIDEN
KADE
KASSIDY
KAYLEE
KAYLEEONNA
KAYLYNN
KENDRA
LILY
LOGAN
MONTESSA
ROBERT
RUVIM
THANE
TRISTON
S
W
C
M
P
G
X
E
F
H
J
Q
R
T
U
V
I
N
A
B
D
L
O
Y
1
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1

32. Building Conceptual
Understanding
• Fill in the “holes”
• Extensive use of
Manipulatives
• Bridge the Gap from
Numbers to their
Meaning
• Lots of
Manipulatives, Drawings
and Whiteboards
• Concrete Objects to Help
Build Understanding

33. Developing Procedural
Proficiency
•
•
•
•
Conceptual Framework
Needed to be in Place First
Bridge the Gap from Concrete
Objects, Manipulatives, Drawi
ngs and Visual
Representations to
Procedural
Move to Abstract by Relating
Concepts to Procedures and
Algorithms
Fewer Problems – More
Concrete to Conceptual

34. Using Standards-Based Common Formative
Math Assessments
34

35. After Giving a Common Formative Assessment
Use the data to drive instruction
PROVIDE INTERVENTION: Explicit, targeted and
focused instruction in concepts and skills not
yet mastered
35

36. Common Formative
Assessments
• Used almost daily to Guide
Instruction and Intervention
• 3 Legged Stool
• 1st – Computational Fluency
• 2nd – Students on a Path to
Standards Mastery
• 3rd – The Standards Themselves
• Told us What Students Knew
• Drove Small Group Interventions
• Identify Trends before Diagnostic
Unit Assessments and State
Assessments

37. Interim Assessments
The Diagnostic Unit Assessments
37

38. The Design of the Diagnostic Assessments
• Each unit assessment is 10-18 questions in
length
• Each unit corresponds to the Core Content for
the grade level (e.g. 3.1 Addition, Subtraction
and Place Value)
• Each item on the assessment is aligned to the
math performance expectations (P.E.’s)
• Most assessments have two items written for
each P.E. assessed on MSP
38

39. The Design of the Unit Assessments
• Test questions match the item format that
they will be assessed on the MSP
»Multiple Choice
»Completion
»Short Answer
• Scoring Rubrics are provided on the answer
key that correspond to cut scores on the MSP
39

40. Multiple Choice & Completion - 1 Point
40

41. Short Answer – 2 points
41

42. Answer Keys and Scoring Rubrics
42

43. Collecting the Data – Using an
Electronic Scoring Roster
43

44. How Data was Used
from Diagnostic Unit
Assessments
• A Finish Line – Line in the
Sand
• Formed Tiered Groupings
of Students
• Met in PLCs to Analyze
the Data and Identify
Students Needing
Intervention
• Formed Intervention
Groups and RTI Strategies

45. MATH INTERVENTION
NOTEBOOK
ð
Ro cky R idge Elementary School
Graham, W ashingt on
ð
• Lessons aligned to
each standard
• Intensive Level of
Intervention
(Reteaching)
• Strategic Level of
Intervention
(Additional
Practice)

46. The Math Intervention
Notebooks
• Fully Aligned to Standards
• Provided Extra Practice to
Students Needing It
• Used Data from Diagnostic
Unit Assessments to
Identify Trends
• Used Binder to Find
Lessons and Practice Pages
Aligned to Standards

47. Military Disposition
“Security against defeat implies defensive
tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking
the offensive.” ~Sun Tsu

48. Final Thoughts and Take
Aways
•
•
•
•
•
My task to get students to
standard seemed to be an
insurmountable task
Anything can be
accomplished through
teamwork
This is not an add-on
The Plan Works ~ Use it
Consistently
Students can make
Astronomical Gains by Using
a Systems-Approach to Math

49. Our First Year Results

50. Math RTI - The “System” Works
1. Begin with a Computation Focus for first 6-8
Weeks of School
2. Use Common Formative Assessments Aligned to
Standards Daily to Drive Instruction and
Intervention Efforts
3. Administer Diagnostic Unit Assessments after
Mastery Should be Achieved – Disaggregate
Data by Concept or Skill
4. Interventions Continue using Diagnostic Data
Until all Students Achieve Mastery

51. The Spoils of War
Please email mfox@bethelsd.org
if you would like any of the
following materials:
• MBSP Computation
Spreadsheets for Grades 1-6
• MBSP Diagnostic Spreadsheets
• Common Formative
Assessments Grades 3-6
• Diagnostic Unit Assessments
Grades 3-6
• Electronic Excel Scoring
Rosters for Diagnostic
Assessments
51