Maximizing Opportunities to Respond (OTR)
Effect Size: .60 SD
Definition: The number of time the teacher provides academic opportunities that require students to actively respond (Miller, 2009; Sprick, Knight, Reinke, & McKale, 2006). Students are engaged through opportunities to respond when they are saying, writing, or doing (Feldman). When tied to learning objectives these opportunities result in positive behavioral and academic outcomes and give the teacher insight into the students' learning and understanding of the topic(s) being studied.
Rationale (Why):
- OTR increases student engagement, allows for more positive, specific feedback, and decreases inappropriate student behavior.
- Summary of Research: Research has shown that the target rate of OTR for new material is 4 - 6 responses per minute with 80% accuracy and 9 - 12 responses per minute with 90% accuracy for practice of material already covered. Additionally, it has been found that the optimal wait time for responses is about 3 - 5 seconds. This allows students to think through their responses and allows more students to respond.
Opportunities to respond can be focused on the individual or on a group of students. Each of these approaches has different strengths. The teacher may choose to use group OTR to minimize the risk the student feels in responding and to increase engagement for all students. However, the teacher might choose to use individual OTR when it is important to know what EACH student thinks. Opportunities to respond can be verbal or non-verbal. Verbal responses help students to summarize and share their thoughts with others while non-verbal responses can increase writing skills or give students the opportunity to move around the room.
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