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Why Math Fact Fluency Matters
Unblock the path to higher mathematics.
What is math fact fluency?
Math fact fluency is the quick and effortless (automatic) recall of basic math facts in all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). When students achieve automaticity, they can retrieve math facts from their long-term memory without conscious effort or attention (or counting on their fingers!). Fact fluency not only saves students time but also significantly impacts their future math success.
The importance of math fact fluency
Extensive research has demonstrated the critical role of math fact fluency in elementary school-level mathematics and beyond. When students develop fact fluency, they free up their working memory to retrieve math facts with little effort, which allows them to devote more time to advanced problem-solving and learning new skills.
Multiple studies underscore why fluency matters, one reason including that fact retrieval speed is a significant predictor of performance on standardized tests. Additionally, fact fluency predicts performance on math concept problems, word problems, data interpretation problems, and mathematical reasoning items.
How Reflex helps with building math fact mastery
The Reflex system combines research-proven methods and innovative online technology to provide the most effective math fact fluency solution available. Reflex continuously monitors each learner’s math performance to help students of all levels develop math fact fluency and keeps students motivated thanks to engaging games and frequent rewards for effort progress. With Reflex's reporting features, educators have everything they need to monitor and celebrate individual and classroom fact fluency progress.
The latest research found that across all achievement levels, students who used Reflex for math facts and Frax (for fractions) experienced significant academic growth in short periods of time.
A few factors behind Reflex’s success:
Reflex's system is based on a fact family approach that builds on and reinforces critical mathematical concepts such as the commutative property and the relationship between the operations. When students grasp the conceptual connections between facts, they accelerate their progress to automaticity.
Reflex is highly adaptive and individualized so that students of all ability levels have early and ongoing success in math. In addition, the system consistently celebrates student effort and progress toward automaticity with exciting rewards. Students come to understand that with hard work and dedication, they can truly succeed in math.
Reflex’s interactive fluency development games are unique. Unlike traditional math fact games, they require students to engage in progressively complex and fast-paced decision-making. When students can answer facts fluently while achieving game objectives, you can be confident they have the skills to tackle new math concepts in your classroom.
Discover more details about the research behind Reflex and how the system works.
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