Framework for Interventions with Students

A review of the scientific literature on teaching and learning related to reading, writing and mathematics made it possible to identify the best educational practices in these three areas. This review also provided an opportunity to define the management and support measures to be implemented to ensure that educational stakeholders become familiar with these practices.

The resulting frameworks are intended for administrators of school service centres, school boards and schools, as well as education consultants, teachers and remedial teachers. Their main objective is to promote, through preventive practices, the success of all students, especially those with learning difficulties. These frameworks complement the Québec Education Program.

The Framework for Interventions to Improve the Reading Skills of Students Aged 10 to 15 (in French only) presents an intervention approach and support proposals based on research. Successful implementation of the framework ensures:

• an increase in the number of students whose reading level corresponds to their grade level
• more effective reading instruction
• better collaboration between the various stakeholders
• a greater sense of competence on the part of teachers who are helping students with reading difficulties

The framework provides education professionals and administrators of educational institutions or educational services with supporting and accompanying documents as well as many tools validated by the education network. The framework is divided into two parts. The first part is intended for education professionals. It discusses the current trend in student support, influenced by the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach, and addresses the four stages of the intervention approach: information gathering and interpretation, intervention planning, intervention and communication.

The second part is intended for those who guide education professionals and administrators of educational institutions or educational services in implementing the framework. Specifically, it discusses the conditions that need to be put in place to encourage a lasting changes in practices. It also discusses the professional learning community as a form of support.

The framework for writing is a continuation of the framework for reading. It uses the same approach and proposes research-based interventions to support the development of the writing competencies of students who are likely to, or have already, encountered difficulties, regardless of the cause of these difficulties.

In recent years, a growing number of researchers, particularly in Québec, have focused on the teaching and learning of writing in elementary and secondary schools. This research provides a better understanding of how the written language works and of the interventions to help students develop their writing competencies.

However, the proposed interventions do not focus on subject-specific text genres, but rather on writing competencies in general.

The Framework for Interventions to Improve Math Skills is based on research findings and is founded on the same principles as the previous frameworks. Its objective is to support the development of students’ mathematical competencies, particularly those of students who are experiencing or are likely to experience difficulties in this subject. It provides school teams with guidelines, enabling them to reflect on their practices so they can determine what they must do to better meet the students’ mathematical needs.

The Framework for Interventions to Improve Math Skills will provide teachers with some sense of how to approach mathematical concepts. It also defines the educational aims associated with problem solving, and specifies the roles of the teacher and the student in the mathematics classroom.