The power of data: From literacy assessment to action

Two educational documents are displayed, focusing on early literacy and literacy assessment for grades K-8. Images of children learning are included on the front page, highlighting their journey in language comprehension skills.

Teaching literacy is a balancing act. Your classroom may have students who soar through grade-level reading lessons and others who need additional support—or even intensive intervention—to keep up. And you may feel like there’s never enough time to meet everyone’s needs.

But with data, you can do it. By leveraging assessment data strategically, making the most of core instruction, and integrating intervention and personalized learning, you can give every student the support they need—without adding extra hours to your day.

Let’s break it down.

Types of data, defined

This you know: Not all assessments are created equal. Universal screeners help identify which students need extra support. Formative assessments track ongoing progress. Summative assessments measure overall learning. Each is a tool that equips you with the right information at the right time to adjust your instruction.

  • Before core instruction: Universal screening and diagnostic assessments enable you to see where students are starting from and plan accordingly.
  • During instruction: Formative assessments (e.g., quick checks, observations, and exit tickets) catch misunderstandings early so you can reteach on the spot.
  • After instruction: Summative assessments measure progress; progress monitoring during intervention helps you know if students are on the right track before final assessments.

The goal isn’t more testing—it’s using the data from the assessments you have to make smarter instructional decisions.

Making the most of Tier 1 instruction

You spend most of the school day on core instruction. Making it as effective as possible benefits all students, not just those who are struggling. The key? Teach explicitly; use high-quality materials grounded in the Science of Reading; and keep instruction aligned to grade-level standards while allowing flexibility for different learning needs. Specifically:

  • Model first, then guide, then let them try. Clear explanations and step-by-step modeling give students confidence before they work independently.
  • Use formative assessments to adjust in real time. If an exit ticket shows most students didn’t grasp a concept, a quick reteach the next day can prevent gaps from growing.
  • Group students for targeted support. Small groups during core instruction can help address specific skill gaps without taking students away from grade-level learning.

When core instruction is strong and built around what students actually need, intervention becomes more about fine-tuning rather than catching up from major gaps.

An MTSS framework: The right help at the right time

When assessment data shows that a student needs extra support, targeted intervention helps prevent small struggles from turning into bigger ones. A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) can ensure that interventions are structured, data-driven, and matched to student needs.

  • Intervention blocks and small groups: Some classrooms use dedicated intervention blocks to provide students extra support without missing core instruction. Others incorporate targeted small-group instruction during the literacy block. Either way, intervention works best when it’s built into the schedule, not squeezed in as an afterthought.
  • Progress monitoring: Once students enter intervention, regular check-ins track their progress and allow you to make adjustments as needed without waiting for the next big assessment.

Small shifts, big impact

For students who are on track or need more challenge, personalized learning tools—such as adaptive reading programs—can provide meaningful independent practice. High-quality programs adjust automatically based on student performance, so each student gets exactly the right level of support or enrichment without adding extra prep for you.

In other words, teaching literacy well isn’t about working more—it’s about working strategically. By using assessments to inform your instruction, strengthening core teaching, and providing structured support or intervention when needed, you can position every student for success, no matter where they start.

More to explore

Your Beyond My Years 2024 recap!

In August of last year, our teaching podcast Beyond My Years took its first steps—and in no time we were exploring a lot of new territory on our journey to soak up teacher advice and wisdom from seasoned educators across the globe. Their experiences became our experiences. So let’s recap some of the top moments of 2024.

In 2024 on Beyond My Years we:

Traveled 3,469 miles to Stasia, Alaska.

We ventured all the way to the northernmost part of Alaska alongside Patti and Rod Lloyd to teach in a rural indigenous community. Joining such a rich and unique culture as outsiders taught Patti and Rod the importance of learning from their students.

“Even though they’re coming to me at five and six years old, they are coming with a lot of rich knowledge that I don’t have. And if I remain open and work with them, I’ve got a lot to learn.” —Rod Lloyd

Went back to school at the age of 80.

When the United Kingdom put out a call in 2020 for retired educators to return to aid a national shortage, Eric Jones knew he still had more left to teach, even at the age of 80! He knows that to stay in the education field as long as he has you need to celebrate and honor all areas of what a teacher does. When you honor every piece of the work you can do, you can make sure every moment stays aligned with your goals and serves your students.

“I like teaching kids things they didn’t know before and now they’re excited about. I love the idea that they will then move on into realms of industry and economic success that I would never dream of.” —Eric Jones

Shared our first Amplify podcast episode entirely in Spanish.

We even had our first bonus episode entirely in Spanish with Luz Selenia Muñoz. She taught us that some things transcend language—like the importance of knowing the “why” behind student behavior. According to Luz, whether your classroom is monolingual or multilingual, it is important to make connections with your students. You will see what they need and know what their triggers are. Behavior improves when you understand what your kids are going through.

“Yo creo que le diría que tenga paciencia. Paciencia. Que respire. Que las cosas van a mejorar cada día.” —Luz Selenia Muñoz

“I think I would tell them to be patient. Be patient. Breathe. Things will change for the better with every passing day.” —Luz Selenia Muñoz

Took time for ourselves.

Kamphet Pease called out the overachiever in all of us educators. An important piece of teacher advocacy: We all took a hard look at our school to-do lists together and recognized that we have to do better at prioritization—including prioritizing self-care.

“Make sure you take care of yourself as well. Take the time to go for a walk, take the time to take a bubble bath, cook for yourself, whatever you find enjoyment in.” —Kamphet Pease

Want even more of the best of the best from season one of Beyond My Years, which is brought to you by the team that produces Science of Reading: The Podcast? Download our key takeaways, a curated collection of invaluable wisdom and practical guidance from our lineup of inspiring educator guests.

More to explore:

Personalized learning grounded in the Science of Reading

Surveying the landscape

Recent data shows that far fewer young students are on target for reading proficiency than in previous years. In fall 2020, kindergarteners were 6 percent less likely to be on track in reading than they were in the 2019–20 school year.

How do we reverse these trends? A personalized learning program steeped in research-based literacy practices can be your first step. In this blog, we introduce personalized learning programs for early literacy, discuss why they should be aligned with the Science of Reading, and outline the key features that all effective personalized learning programs should have to support ALL students.

What is personalized learning?

“Personalized learning in literacy education is an approach in which teaching and other learning experiences build on each student’s strengths, address each student’s needs, spur student motivation and agency, and help all students meet grade-level standards and, ultimately, achieve college and career readiness.” 

— Student Achievement Partners

Achieve the Core outlines a set of key components every personalized program should include to accelerate literacy:

— Achieve the Core, 2020

How can I bring the Science of Reading into personalized learning?

Not all personalized learning programs should be treated equally. Programs should provide explicit, systematic foundational skills, continue to build background knowledge, and support core Science of Reading instruction. Focusing on the things we do while we’re reading that allow us to make sense of text — also known as comprehension processes — is a key component of supporting beginning readers.

How will I know if a personalized learning program is based on research about how children learn to read?

We’ve provided a checklist of key features to look for when selecting a personalized learning program grounded in the Science of Reading.

1) Look for a program that complements your Science of Reading instructional practices.

The content of a personalized program should support your core Science of Reading instruction.

Look for research-based instruction aligned to Scarborough’s Reading Rope, a focus on comprehension processes and language structures in addition to foundational skills, and personalization that adapts based on student needs.

2) Look for a program that employs a whole-child approach.

A whole-child approach focuses on students’ individual strengths and needs.

Look for targeting of skill practice at the just-right level in ALL areas, a focus on students’ individual strengths as well as their needs, and more opportunities for success, all of which build student confidence.

3) Look for a program that uses an adaptive scope and sequence.

In an adaptive model, students progress along a unique pathway through a learning map that adapts based on their performance.

Look for full adaptivity — where students progress along a pathway that adapts on multiple dimensions, not just one. The program should offer data to place students into personalized pathways and continue to analyze student performance data to determine the skills they practice and when.

4) Look for a program that acts as a digital tutor to save teachers time.

A program that aims to save you time provides students with differentiated instruction and pathways when they’re really struggling.

Look for a program that provides scaffolding and differentiated pathways to students when they’re struggling, and offers precursor and ancillary skill development and advancement opportunities before revisiting challenging content. Programs should alert teachers with targeted resources to support students and keep them moving.

5) Look for a program that motivates students intrinsically.

Programs that focus on intrinsic motivation leverage a growth mindset theory to ensure that students have fun while they learn.

Look for a program that rewards persistence as much as performance and ensures students have fun while they learn.

Personalized learning supplemental tool: Amplify Reading

Amplify Reading is a personalized learning program powered by the Science of Reading. The program blends compelling storytelling with research-based instructional practices to offer:

  • Personalized instruction across 13 different critical skill areas that adapt to each student’s needs while building on their strengths.
  • Explicit practice in comprehension processes, phonics, and vocabulary.
  • Extra support and scaffolds for struggling readers and English learners.
  • An immersive game-play design that motivates students and makes learning to read fun.

To learn how this program can accelerate reading growth in your district, request a personalized walkthrough below.

Request a walkthrough

Amplify Reading – Amplify Reading

Proven to boost critical reading skills and captivate students Based on the science of reading, Amplify Reading…readingsuccess.amplify.com

Work cited

Liben, Meredith, et al. “What Principles Must Underlie Successful Personalized Learning?” Peers and Pedagogy, 27 Oct. 2020

Identifying math anxiety

Can you do long division in your head and calculate tips in your sleep? Or does the mere thought of arithmetic keep you up at night?

If you fall into the latter camp, you’re not alone.

Math anxiety is real—and an established body of research proves it. In fact, data shows that math anxiety affects at least 20% of students.

And its effects can be damaging in both the immediate and long term. It can bring down student performance both in and beyond math, and in and outside the classroom.

Fortunately, we’re also learning how teachers can help students manage math anxiety—and succeed wherever it’s holding them back.

We explored this topic on a recent episode of Math Teacher Lounge, our biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. This season is all about recognizing and reducing math anxiety in students, with each episode featuring experts and educators who share their insights and strategies around this critical subject.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, associate professor of educational psychology at Ball State University, has been studying math anxiety for more than a decade. He joined podcast hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to share his insights.

So let’s take a look at what math anxiety is—and is not. We’ll also explore what impact it has on learning, and what we can do about it.

What is math anxiety?

Math anxiety is more than just finding math challenging, or feeling like you’re “not a math person.” Dr. Ramirez offers this definition: “[Math anxiety] is a fear or apprehension in situations that might involve math or situations that you perceive as involving math. Anything from tests to homework to paying a tip at a restaurant.”

Math anxiety may cause sweating, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms of anxiety.

But while math anxiety has some similarities with other forms of anxiety, it’s exclusive to math-related tasks, and comes with a unique set of characteristics and influences.

Math anxiety can lead sufferers to deliberately avoid math. And this avoidance can not only result in a student not learning math, but also limiting their academic success, career options, and even  social experiences and connections. This can look like anything from getting poor grades in math class, to tension with family members over doing math homework.

Parents and teachers can suffer from math anxiety, too. In fact, some research suggests that when teachers have math anxiety, it’s more likely that some of their students will, too.

What causes math anxiety?

It’s not correlated to high or low skill or performance in math. Students who generally don’t do well in math can experience math anxiety because they assume they’ll do poorly every time. Students who have been pressured to be high-achieving experience math anxiety because they’re worried they won’t meet expectations.

Other triggers may include:

  • Pressure. Pressure from parents or peers to do well in math can create anxiety, especially if the person feels that their worth or future success is tied to their math abilities.
  • Negative past experiences. Someone who has struggled with math or gotten negative feedback about their math skills might develop math anxiety. They may start to avoid or fear math, making it even harder to approach and improve.
  • Learning style. Different people have different learning styles. When someone’s learning style doesn’t match the way math is taught in their class or school, they may struggle and develop anxiety.
  • Cultural factors. When students hear things like, “Boys are better at math,” it can increase math anxiety in girls who may absorb the notion that they are already destined to underachieve.

Math anxiety and working memory

Dr. Ramirez has researched the important relationship between math anxiety and working memory.

Working memory refers to the ability to hold and manipulate information in short-term memory. People with math anxiety often have poorer working memory capacity when it comes to math-related tasks. This is thought to be due to the cognitive load created by anxiety, which can interfere with the ability to manage information in working memory.

The result? A negative feedback loop. Poor working memory can lead to further math anxiety, and increased anxiety can further impair working memory.

However, it’s important to note that not all individuals with math anxiety experience a decline in working memory capacity. Some may have average or above-average working memory capacity but still experience math anxiety. In such cases, the anxiety may be related to negative beliefs about one’s ability to perform math tasks, rather than an actual cognitive deficit.

What we can do about math anxiety

Even though math anxiety is a distinct type of anxiety, interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and mindfulness approaches have been shown to be effective in reducing it.

It starts, says Dr. Ramirez, with normalizing the anxiety.

“If you’re a student and you’re struggling with math and I tell you, ‘Yeah, it’s hard, it’s OK to struggle with math,’ that makes you feel seen. And that’s gonna lead you to want to ask me more for help, because I’m someone who understands you,” says Dr. Ramirez. “And that’s a great opportunity.”

Learn more

Start your 30-day free trial of Desmos Math 6–A1.

Nurturing young children’s curiosity and wonder in the math classroom

Based on my experience in math education, I find that many pedagogical structures or moves sound great in theory, but are often easier said than done. Because of the complexity, asking students to construct mathematical arguments has been one of those things for me. Fortunately, over the years, I have had the joy and privilege to work with Jody and Chepina, whose thinking around math argumentation is grounded in theory and paired with practical and actionable advice and structures. I am so excited for others to share in their deep thinking and look forward to seeing the impact their work will have in classrooms.

—Kristin Gray, Executive Director, Math suite, Amplify

Mathematical argumentation as an opportunity for curiosity

Students bring curiosity and wonder to the classroom every day. When we’re attending to their ideas, we can find more opportunities for mathematical argumentation in our math lessons. Let’s look at how these opportunities arise in a first-grade classroom.

The lesson and card sort activity

The purpose of the lesson was for students to identify equivalent addition expressions by sorting cards, each with a different expression. Students quickly noticed that there is more than one way to get the same value. They could even begin to see the commutative property in action when shown cards with addends in opposite order: 4 + 3 = 3 + 4.

While sorting addition expressions, rather than organizing the cards in piles by their value, one student named Jenna organized the cards in columns. This student-led creative modification to the card sort structure allowed for different noticings and wonderings to emerge. She started by creating a row across the top with cards showing one addend of 0. At first, she wasn’t consistent with the top card being 0 + x or x + 0, but over time changed them so that they were all 0 + x. Then she filled in the last column with expressions equal to 10. As she added cards, she started to change the order so that the first addend on the cards increased going down the column and the second addend decreased.

Math lesson and card sort activity.

As Jenna added each card to her organizational structure, the teacher asked where that card would go and how she knew. When asked about the 2 + 6 card, for example, Jenna said, “Because this is counting to 8, and this”—she pointed to a gap—“has to be 7, because [the 6 is] 2 less than 8. It fits here because these are all twos” (in the row). Jenna was coordinating several characteristics of rows and columns within the structure of the chart.

As Jenna continued to fill in the chart, she noticed yet another pattern. Pointing to the step pattern, Jenna noticed that, “There is a stair step. The pattern keeps going. There’s one more way to make the total as it gets bigger.”

Rows of flashcards with math lessons.

We could state this conjecture more precisely as: “For any whole number n, there are n + 1 ways to add two whole numbers to get a sum of n.” Jenna was making sense of big math ideas and noticing structure embedded in arithmetic.

Reflecting on the experience

As we step back and reflect on what we experienced with Jenna, we wonder what could happen next. How might Jenna justify her thinking? She noticed the stair-step pattern and multiple ways to arrive at the total. What might she say if we asked her, “Why is that happening?” Or if we gave her a tool such as linking cubes and asked if she could use the cubes to show why that works? Are there other questions that could have nudged her to extend her thinking, such as, “Will that always work?” or “What numbers does it work for?” Is there a tool or representation that would help her continue her reasoning?

We can also think about what might happen if we shared Jenna’s idea with the other students. How might they respond to Jenna’s noticing? Would her ideas lead others to see and use structure in similar ways? How would they make sense of her ideas? Perhaps this is an opportunity to engage students in each other’s ideas.

Opportunities for curiosity

The opportunity for Jenna and her classmates to make sense and explore their natural curiosity emerges from a classroom environment that’s playful and filled with wonder—where children are given time to explore and interact with materials and each other. We noticed that as Jenna progressed through the cards, she refined and added on to her thinking. This is evident in the first row of cards. She grouped cards with 0 as an addend, then began to sequence them, and later considered the positioning of the addends to 0 + x. As we might infer from the interaction of the teacher, there isn’t one right way to think about the task, nor one way for the teacher to encourage students to think about it. We hear the teacher ask Jenna to share her reasoning: It’s not a question posed to evaluate Jenna’s thinking, but rather to gain insight into her thinking—something the teacher is genuinely curious about.

In addition to the classroom environment, the card sort also presented an open-ended opportunity. Students made sense of the sort in many different ways, some finding related pairs and starting to identify (not yet naming) the commutative property, others grouping problems with a common addend in piles. All students had access to the task and time to make sense of it.

We share the story of Jenna as one of many instances where young children have shared their brilliance with us. Their wonder and curiosity inspired us to explore their ideas along with K–2 teachers. We saw students notice, wonder, conjecture, justify, and extend ideas that led to a deep understanding of key mathematical concepts while integrating mathematical argumentation.

We share ideas like the brilliance from Jenna in our new book, Nurturing Math Curiosity with Learners in Grades K–2, where we also make connections among instructional routines, center, and card sorts. Our book also discusses supporting students in curious exploration, building on what they already bring to the classroom as a way to bring opportunities for mathematical argumentation into our lessons.

Rumsey, C., & Guarino, J. (2024). Nurturing Math Curiosity with Learners in Grades K–2. Solution Tree. Bloomington, IN. ISBN: 9781960574367

Explore more