ABSTRACT
This chapter examines important instructional considerations for students who are not making adequate progress, describes the critical elements of explicit instruction that help meet these students’ needs, and discusses how explicit instruction improves students’ motivation. Instructional Considerations for Struggling Learners Students who fail to make adequate progress in mathematics frequently have problems with memory and executive functioning. Instructional Objectives Explicit instruction begins in the planning stage with a clearly defined instructional objective that describes observable learning outcomes. Instructional approaches that introduce a small amount of information, then provide time for students to actively process that information before we introduce additional information, will be more successful with learners struggling to master mathematics. Therefore, students with deficits in self-regulation will benefit from instruction that includes explicit modeling of strategies and multiple opportunities to practice, with support gradually faded as the learners gain competence.
