Empowering Teachers With Low-Intensity Strategies to Support Instruction: Within-Activity Choices in Third-Grade Math With Null Effects

Instructional choice is a low-intensity strategy that can improve academic engagement. In this study, we investigated the effects of within-activity choices offered during math by third-grade teachers to participating students with behavioral and academic needs. We utilized a professional development model to train teachers to implement instructional choice in the classroom while collecting direct observation data on student’s academic engagement. Teachers were able to implement practices with high levels of integrity and collect momentary time sampling data on one student with high levels of reliability. Using a withdrawal design, we found no clear functional relation between instructional choice and increases in student’s academic engagement. However, some students demonstrated an increase in level upon the introduction of the intervention. Both teachers and students rated the intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes as acceptable. Possible reasons for a lack of treatment effect on student academic engagement are discussed.