The Effects of Opportunities to Respond on Learning Rate

Mathematics intervention research has established several effective interventions for building accuracy and fluency of math fact computation, as well as components that may improve student learning rates. While several evidence-based interventions promoting math fact accuracy and fluency exist, further work is needed to determine additional components that might make an intervention more effective in different situations. The current study evaluated one of these components, opportunities to respond (OTRs), to evaluate differences in student growth over time under two OTR conditions. Using a within-participant time series design with 52 third-grade students, controlling for instructional time, students completed two Taped Problems intervention sessions, one for each OTR condition, daily for 5 weeks. Results indicate the high OTR condition initially resulted in greater growth in multiplication computational fluency, although the trends of both conditions eventually levelled out at similar rates of performance. Unstandardized parameter estimates for group (-1.52 [95% CI: -2.45, -0.58], p = .002) and time (-1.97 [95% CI: -2.42, -1.51], p < .001) were statistically significant; however, no interaction was observed. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.