An Examination of Response Requirements Associated with Teachers' use of Different Opportunities for Student Response During Instruction

Providing effective instruction that increases the degree to which students are engaged with the instructional content has been identified as a research-based practice in that it is associated with positive academic and behavioral outcomes. One high-leverage practice for engaging students is the provision of opportunities to respond (OTR) during instruction. However, previous research has shown that teachers at every level typically use OTRs at rates far below research-based recommendations. This study adds to the literature by breaking OTRs into verbal, non-verbal, and partner categories to further examine how teachers typically foster student engagement. Across 1095 total observations, OTR rates were observed to be higher than previous research. However, teachers at every level were found to use simple verbal questioning greater than 75% of the of the time they provided an engagement opportunity. A discussion focuses on what this implies for students with verbal deficits and on practical implications and areas for future research.