Essential Components of Math Instruction

In this article, the authors focus on five instructional approaches with a strong evidence base for the teaching and learning of math: (a) plan, model, and practice: systematic and explicit instruction; (b) focus on the language of math; (c) use multiple representations, including number lines; (d) build fluency; and (e) provide word problem instruction. These evidence-based practices have been identified in practice guides about math intervention from the "What Works Clearinghouse" (Fuchs et al., 2021; Gersten et al., 2009), through the "National Center on Intensive Intervention" (2018, 2019), and through a number of research reviews, see Powell, Doabler, et al., (2020); Powell, Mason, et al., 2021; Jitendra, Nelson, et al., 2016; Lein et al., 2020; Peltier et al., 2020). For each instructional approach, the authors provide a section about the approach and details about how to use the approach when providing math instruction.