How to Teach Grade-Level Standards to Struggling Students
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses how to keep students on grade-level standards by adding support instead of lowering expectations.
Key Takeaways
- Keep Grade-Level Expectations - Teaching below grade level only lets students fall farther behind, so the goal is to maintain the standard and add support.
- Math Is Different - Because math is hierarchical, students need prerequisite mastery, which may require acceleration for some and an extra math class or intervention for others.
- Exposure Matters in Other Subjects - In science, social studies, and other areas, prior exposure and background knowledge often matter more than full mastery of every earlier concept.
- Use Read-Alouds for Access - When texts are above students' reading level, teachers can read aloud using strong protocols so students still engage with grade-level content.
- Rethink Independent Work - Too much independent or group work can block access for struggling readers, while explicit teacher-directed instruction can keep learning on grade level.
Full Transcript
How do you teach grade-level standards when your kids are below grade level? I've had a lot of videos recently about how we need to hold the line on grade-level standards and not lower expectations in the name of differentiation or meeting kids where they're at.
But a lot of people have pointed out correctly that that creates a challenge, that creates a problem when we need students to do work that is above what seems to be their level of ability. And I think there are three different answers to this question, depending on what subject we're talking about
and how we're supporting kids. I think if it's math, the reality is, Math is a very hierarchical subject. If you have not mastered the previous concepts that are part of the current concept, you're not going to get the current concept, right?
You're not going to be able to do exponents if you don't understand multiplication. So mastery and mastering things in order is really crucial for math, and there's no way around that. And that means we need to have advanced math classes for kids who are ready to go faster, starting probably in about third grade.
And it means we need to provide extra support, probably also starting in about third grade, In addition to, you know, tutoring and interventionists, we need, like, a whole extra math class for kids who are going a lot slower and just need that extra time to keep up.
Because what we want to prevent is kids falling behind, right? If we teach below grade level, if we meet kids where they're at, they will fall farther and farther behind.
We need to keep them on pace with grade level expectations and provide additional support to keep them on track. Now, for every other subject, like, I'm convinced that no other subject is as hierarchical as math. So when we talk about prerequisite knowledge, that's not as much of a thing in any other subject.
And what we're really talking about is familiarity, exposure, prior knowledge, something for the new knowledge to stick to, schema. It is very, very important that students, you know, encounter concepts multiple times so that the knowledge can build on itself. So, if you're getting into high school chemistry,
like, that should not be the first time you've heard of matter.
You should know what particles are. You should have some sense that stuff is made out of particles. Maybe that those particles are called atoms and molecules. And if you don't know any of that, it's going to be very difficult for the new knowledge to stick. And I think we undervalue exposure. We overweight mastery.
We say you have to master things. No, you don't have to master everything in every subject for it to be valuable and allow subsequent knowledge to stick to it. So I think we need to value exposure and give kids access to grade-level content, even if they're not reading at grade level.
You might say, well, how do we do that? Because we need them to read it, and it's above their level. Here's a super simple, maybe too simplistic, but a super simple answer is, you read it out loud, right?
There are great protocols for reading out loud. Phase reading, F-A-S-E, from Doug Lamov, Teach Like a Champion, is one of my favorites. Fluent, attentive, social, and expressive. You read it out loud and they can get it. The other thing I think we've got to stop doing
so much of is independent and group work that requires the student to be able to read independently. I think we can do more teacher-directed explicit instruction and we can get kids grade-level learning.
Let me know what you think.