Program Description
JUMP Math is a highly-scaffolded, direct instruction approach that covers all strands of K to 8 math, and includes computation and problem-solving. The approach is described as “guided discovery”; teachers implement lessons contained in detailed, explicit teachers guides to help move students towards discovering target concepts. Math concepts are reduced to increasingly smaller steps until students achieve mastery, then built back up incrementally to meet the curriculum demands. Students receive extensive practice at each step. Assessment is ongoing and considered essential to ensure comprehension before moving on to new material. All students in a class work on the same concepts, but individual students work at their own pace, doing easier or more challenging work, or gaining more practice, relating to the lesson concept until they are ready to move on. A range of models (concrete materials, tables, diagrams) are used strategically to help students grasp abstract concepts but the models are removed as soon as students are able to work without these supports. There are no student textbooks in this program. Students complete their work in practice and assessment guides that are streamlined to limit extraneous information and contain only the essential language. Lesson details are reserved for the teachers’ guides so that teachers can control the timing and amount of information the students receive so as not to overwhelm student working memory.
Program Outcomes
A study of JUMP Math was carried out in rural schools across Ontario, Canada. On individually-administered Woodcock math tests, students in JUMP Match scored significantly higher, with an effect size of +0.23. This qualified JUMP Math for the ESSA “Promising” category.
Professional Development/Training
Teachers are implementation ready after 1 full day of training, in the study they received a 2nd full follow-up day around mid-year. This was mostly used for sharing ideas and to overcome challenges.
Technology
Smart board materials are not required but many teachers choose to use them.