How do students practice Focus Skills in Math and ELA? – Freckle

All teachers can assign Focus Skills to students by creating Targeted Practice assignments targeted to the Focus Skills available in the system.

With the new Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice modes, Freckle can also automatically provide differentiated practice on Focus Skills for Premium students who have Star Math or Star Reading scores. In Focus Skills Practice, students work on key skills to close learning gaps and supercharge growth.

While Adaptive Math and ELA Skills Practice are domain-based, dividing practice into skill areas like Geometry or Fractions in Math and Language or Literature in ELA, the Focus Skills Practice mode spans all domains in Math and ELA and helps students reach grade level proficiency more quickly.

Visit https://www.renaissance.com/focus-skills to learn more about Focus Skills and how you can use them to prioritize class time.

How does Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice differentiate for each student?

First, Freckle combines each student’s practice data with their most recent Star score to get a complete picture of the skills they have mastered. Then, Freckle prompts students to practice the first (most foundational) Focus Skill that they aren't proficient in yet.

Students who are eligible for this practice mode access it via the "Focus Skills" tile on their Math or ELA Practice menus.
From their briefing screen (pictured below), students can initiate a short session in the recommended Focus Skill.
Within the session, students see the exact same experience found in teacher-assigned Targeted Practice, differentiated based on our understanding of their proficiency.
1. In Math, if a student consistently struggles, their next practice session adapts to incorporate the Focus Skill's prerequisite skills. They can still work their way to mastery by demonstrating high accuracy in these prerequisite sessions.
2. In ELA, a student will continue to practice the skill until they become proficient.
Once a student demonstrates proficiency on the Focus Skill they are practicing, Freckle celebrates their accomplishment with an animated summary screen:
The next time the student clicks on the "Focus Skills" tile, Freckle will prompt them to practice a new Focus Skill to fill in their next learning gap. Students who practice frequently will continue to fill in their learning gaps until they are proficient in all of the Focus Skills through their rostered grade.
1. In Math, content is only offered in Focus Skills Practice in Kindergarten – Algebra 1.
2. In ELA, content is only offered for 2nd – 8th grade Focus Skills.
Once a student reaches proficiency in all Focus Skills through their rostered grade, Focus Skills Practice will prompt students to choose between two previously mastered Focus Skills so they can keep their knowledge fresh. In this way, the practice mode is ideal for both remediation and review!

Who has access to Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice?

For now, independent Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice is only available for students whose Star Math or Star Reading scores are syncing with Freckle.

In Math, Freckle turns Focus Skills practice on by default for students in grades K-12.
In ELA, Freckle turns Focus Skills practice on by default for students in grades 2-12.

Teachers are welcome to turn this practice off for students from each student's Dashboard Settings screen.

The Edit Student page. On the Dashboard Settings tab, under Math Settings, the Focus Skills tile has been selected, activating it.

How are Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice different from Adaptive Math and ELA Skills Practice?

When students practice Adaptive Math or ELA Skills Practice, they choose a domain (e.g. Geometry or Fractions in Math and Language or Literature in ELA) and practice standards at their level. Each standard is made up of skills.

Some standards contain Focus Skills, or skills that are critical to a student's understanding of later material.

When students practice Adaptive Math or ELA Skills Practice, they practice all standards' skills across a single domain.

When students practice in Math or ELA Focus Skills Practice, they practice just these essential skills, which span multiple domains.

How do they support differentiated practice?

Adaptive Math & ELA Skills Practice	Math and ELA Focus Skills Practice
Gives struggling students practice at their level within the specific domain your class is working on (e.g. Geometry)	Remediates struggling students by targeting their most critical learning gaps across all skill areas.
Adapts to advanced students by giving them practice above their grade level.	Gives advanced students opportunities to review & cement the most important grade level material.