Mathematical Learning Disabilities Research Articles

Video Modeling and Explicit Instruction: A Comparison of Strategies for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Learning Disabilities

AbstractAs classrooms begin to adopt a greater number of digital technologies such as computers and tablets, it is important for educators to understand how effective such tools can be in aiding in the delivery of instruction to students who struggle in mathematics, such as those identified with a learning disability in mathematics. One digital‐based instructional strategy with a limited research base for students with a learning disability is video modeling. Through a single subject alternating treatments design, this study compared the use of video modeling to face‐to‐face explicit instruction for teaching geometry word problems to three secondary students with a learning disability in mathematics. Across 10 sessions of intervention, all three students demonstrated improved performance on all dependent variables with both interventions, while the explicit instruction condition produced slightly greater accuracy scores for two of the three students. The results and their implications for the field of mathematics are discussed.

Effect of Evidence-Based Instruction on Fraction Sense of Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities

Effect of Evidence-Based Instruction on Fraction Sense of Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities

مشکلات الواجب المنزلی لدى التلمیذات ذوات صعــوبــات التعلـم فی المـرحلــة الابتـدائیـة Homework Problems among Female Students with Learning Disabilities in Elementary Stage

هدفت الدراسة إلى التعرف على مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، ومعرفة فوائد استخدام معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي لمادتي الرياضيات ولغتي للواجبات المنزلية مع التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، کما هدفت إلى التعرف على أثر عدد من المتغيرات لدى المعلمات والفروق بين تصوراتهن حول مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية. وتکونت عينة الدراسة الحالية من عينة عشوائية، مکونة من (47) معلمة صعوبات تعلم، و(197) معلمة صف عادي، في مناطق شمال المملکة. واستخدمت الباحثة الاستبانة کأداة للدراسة، مکونة من (31) فقرة. وتوصلت الدراسة إلى عدد من النتائج، منها أن هناک موافقة بدرجة متوسطة (3،57) على اثنتي عشرة مشکلة من مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، من وجهة نظر معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي، أبرزها: عدم اهتمام التلميذة بالدراسة بشکل عام مما يحول دون أدائها على الوجه المطلوب. وأيضا أن هناک موافقة بدرجة عالية (4،30) على فوائد استخدام معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي لمادتي الرياضيات ولغتي للواجبات المنزلية مع التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم. ووجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية عند مستوى (0.05) فأقل، في اتجاهات أفراد عينة الدراسة حول مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم في مادتي الرياضيات ولغتي باختلاف متغير طبيعة العمل، لصالح معلمات صعوبات التعلم. This study aimed to recognize homework problems that face female with learning disabilities. It also aimed to know benefits of using homework by learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers of mathematics and Arabic language with female with learning disabilities. The study also aimed to know the effect of some variables in teachers and differences in their perceptions about the problems of homework. The sample of the study was a random sample consisting of (47) learning disabilities teachers and (197) regular classroom teachers in areas of the Northern Region. The researcher used a questionnaire as an instrument in the study. This questionnaire consisted of (31) items. The study revealed a number of findings as follows; Participants in the study agreed with a mean of (3.57) on twelve problems of the problems that face female with learning disabilities from the point of view of learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers. The most important problem is: students do not pay attention to their study and this prevents them from studying as needed. Also, participants of the study strongly agreed with a mean of (4.30) on benefits of using homework by learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers of mathematics and Arabic language with female with learning disabilities. There were statistically significant differences at the level of (<0.05) in the attitudes of participants towards problems that face female with learning disabilities in mathematics and Arabic language according to differences in job nature and these differences were for learning disabilities teachers.

Access Through Compensation: Emancipatory View of a Mathematics Learning Disability

In this article, we provide a novel view of mathematics learning disability (MLD) by studying a student with an MLD (Dylan) who had compensated so effectively that she was able to major in statistics. We push back on the dominant deficit model used in studies of MLD, and consider issues of access and compensation from a Vygotskian theoretical frame. Through 8 videotaped interview sessions, we identified that Dylan’s primary difficulties were with mathematical notation and number sense, which resulted in issues accessing standard mathematical forms. Analysis revealed 8 compensatory strategies that Dylan used to address these issues of access. We frame our approach as emancipatory research. Dylan was involved in all phases of the study’s design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination, and is the second author. This work acknowledges that individuals with disabilities have research agendas of their own and have critical insight to share about the lived experience of their disability.

Is a fact retrieval deficit the main characteristic of children with mathematical learning disabilities?

Although a fact retrieval deficit is widely considered to be the hallmark of children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD), recent studies suggest that even adults use procedural strategies to solve small additions, except for ties that are unanimously considered to be solved by retrieval. Our study, based on how MLD children process ties and non-ties compared to typically developing (TD) children, sheds new light on their retrieval and procedural difficulties. Our results show that, by the end of the second grade, MLD children do not differ in their ability to solve the tie problems that are certainly solved by retrieval, but they do struggle with both small and large non-ties. These findings emphasize the extend of the difficulties that MLD children exhibit in procedural strategies relatively to retrieval ones.

Early Cognitive Precursors of Children's Mathematics Learning Disability and Persistent Low Achievement: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study.

Mathematical difficulties have been distinguished as mathematics learning disability (MLD) and persistent low achievement (LA). Based on 1,880 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten (age 6) to fourth grade, this study examined the early risk factors for MLD and LA. Distinct groups of MLD (6.0% of the sample) and LA (25.7%) children were identified on the basis of their mathematics performance between first and fourth grades with latent class growth modeling. Impairment in the same set of cognitive skills, including language, spatial, and counting skills, was found to underlie MLD and LA. The finding highlights the importance of monitoring mathematical development across the early grades and identifying early cognitive precursors of MLD and LA for screening and intervention efforts.

How Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities Understands Fraction: A Case from the Indonesian Inclusive School

How Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities Understands Fraction: A Case from the Indonesian Inclusive School

“Indefensible, Illogical, and Unsupported”; Countering Deficit Mythologies about the Potential of Students with Learning Disabilities in Mathematics

This paper describes two myths that circulate widely about the potential of students with Learning Disabilities to learn mathematics: (1) that students with Learning Disabilities cannot benefit from inquiry-based instruction in mathematics, and only from explicit instruction; and (2) that students with Learning Disabilities cannot construct their own mathematical strategies and do not benefit from engaging with multiple strategies. In this paper, I will describe how these myths have developed, and identify research that counters these myths. I argue that these myths are the unintended consequences of deficit constructions of students with Learning Disabilities in educational research. Using neurodiversity to frame disability as diversity rather than deficit, I assert that students with Learning Disabilities can learn mathematics to the highest levels, and that these limiting mythologies hold them back.

Mathematical (Dis)abilities Within the Opportunity-Propensity Model: The Choice of Math Test Matters.

This study examined individual differences in mathematics learning by combining antecedent (A), opportunity (O), and propensity (P) indicators within the Opportunity-Propensity Model. Although there is already some evidence for this model based on secondary datasets, there currently is no primary data available that simultaneously takes into account A, O, and P factors in children with and without Mathematical Learning Disabilities (MLD). Therefore, the mathematical abilities of 114 school-aged children (grade 3 till 6) with and without MLD were analyzed and combined with information retrieved from standardized tests and questionnaires. Results indicated significant differences in personality, motivation, temperament, subjective well-being, self-esteem, self-perceived competence, and parental aspirations when comparing children with and without MLD. In addition, A, O, and P factors were found to underlie mathematical abilities and disabilities. For the A factors, parental aspirations explained about half of the variance in fact retrieval speed in children without MLD, and SES was especially involved in the prediction of procedural accuracy in general. Teachers’ experience contributed as O factor and explained about 6% of the variance in mathematical abilities. P indicators explained between 52 and 69% of the variance, with especially intelligence as overall significant predictor. Indirect effects pointed towards the interrelatedness of the predictors and the value of including A, O, and P indicators in a comprehensive model. The role parental aspirations played in fact retrieval speed was partially mediated through the self-perceived competence of the children, whereas the effect of SES on procedural accuracy was partially mediated through intelligence in children of both groups and through working memory capacity in children with MLD. Moreover, in line with the componential structure of mathematics, our findings were dependent on the math task used. Different A, O, and P indicators seemed to be important for fact retrieval speed compared to procedural accuracy. Also, mathematical development type (MLD or typical development) mattered since some A, O, and P factors were predictive for MLD only and the other way around. Practical implications of these findings and recommendations for future research on MLD and on individual differences in mathematical abilities are provided.

Studying Virtual Manipulatives Paired With Explicit Instruction to Teach Algebraic Equations to Students With Learning Disabilities

Over the last two decades, the significance of academic achievement for students with disabilities in K–12 education has increased. To meet the needs of this population, educators turned to innovative strategies and technologies for instructional support in the classroom. For students with a learning disability, the need for such solutions is vital to address many of the academic struggles they face in the area of mathematics education. One evidence-based strategy shown to support instruction for students with a learning disability is the use of manipulatives. Although concrete manipulatives were extensively studied for this population, the virtual form of this technology lacks comparable research. Using a multiple probe design across three secondary students with a learning disability in mathematics, this study assessed the benefits of an instructional strategy using a virtual manipulative balance paired with explicit instruction to teach multistep linear equations. Results showed increased percent accuracy and independence scores for all three students across an intervention and maintenance phase. These findings and their broader implications for the field of mathematics education are discussed.

مشکــــلات الــــواجب المنزلــــی لــــدى التلمیــــذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم فی المرحلة الابتدائیة Homework Problems among Female Students with Learning Disabilities in Elementary Stage

هدفت الدراسة إلى التعرف على مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، ومعرفة فوائد استخدام معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي لمادتي الرياضيات ولغتي للواجبات المنزلية مع التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، کما هدفت إلى التعرف على أثر عدد من المتغيرات لدى المعلمات والفروق بين تصوراتهن حول مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية. وتکونت عينة الدراسة الحالية من عينة عشوائية، مکونة من (47) معلمة صعوبات تعلم، و(197) معلمة صف عادي، في مناطق شمال المملکة. واستخدمت الباحثة الاستبانة کأداة للدراسة، مکونة من (31) فقرة. وتوصلت الدراسة إلى عدد من النتائج، منها أن هناک موافقة بدرجة متوسطة (3،57) على اثنتي عشرة مشکلة من مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم، من وجهة نظر معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي، أبرزها: عدم اهتمام التلميذة بالدراسة بشکل عام مما يحول دون أدائها على الوجه المطلوب. وأيضا أن هناک موافقة بدرجة عالية (4،30) على فوائد استخدام معلمات صعوبات التعلم ومعلمات الصف العادي لمادتي الرياضيات ولغتي للواجبات المنزلية مع التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم. ووجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية عند مستوى (0.05) فأقل، في اتجاهات أفراد عينة الدراسة حول مشکلات الواجبات المنزلية التي تواجه التلميذات ذوات صعوبات التعلم في مادتي الرياضيات ولغتي باختلاف متغير طبيعة العمل، لصالح معلمات صعوبات التعلم. This study aimed to recognize homework problems that face female with learning disabilities. It also aimed to know benefits of using homework by learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers of mathematics and Arabic language with female with learning disabilities. The study also aimed to know the effect of some variables in teachers and differences in their perceptions about the problems of homework. The sample of the study was a random sample consisting of (47) learning disabilities teachers and (197) regular classroom teachers in areas of the Northern Region. The researcher used a questionnaire as an instrument in the study. This questionnaire consisted of (31) items. The study revealed a number of findings as follows; Participants in the study agreed with a mean of (3.57) on twelve problems of the problems that face female with learning disabilities from the point of view of learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers. The most important problem is: students do not pay attention to their study and this prevents them from studying as needed. Also, participants of the study strongly agreed with a mean of (4.30) on benefits of using homework by learning disabilities teachers and regular classroom teachers of mathematics and Arabic language with female with learning disabilities. There were statistically significant differences at the level of (<0.05) in the attitudes of participants towards problems that face female with learning disabilities in mathematics and Arabic language according to differences in job nature and these differences were for learning disabilities teachers.

Teaching Multistep Equations with Virtual Manipulatives to Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities

AbstractStudents with learning disabilities often struggle with the academic demands presented in secondary mathematics curricula. To combat these students’ struggles, researchers have studied various pedagogical practices and classroom technologies for teaching standards covered in subjects such as algebra and geometry. However, as the role of computer‐ and tablet‐based technologies in education grows, some areas of study, such as the use of virtual manipulatives, lack exploration. This study sought to assess the benefits of virtual manipulatives to teach secondary students with a learning disability in mathematics how to solve multistep algebraic equations. A multiple baseline design across three participants demonstrated a functional relation between the use of a virtual manipulative balance and teaching students to acquire, maintain, and generalize the skill of solving multistep algebraic equations. Results provide new evidence demonstrating virtual manipulatives as a beneficial age‐appropriate technology to teach higher order mathematical concepts to secondary students with a learning disability.

Prevalence of Mathematical and Visuospatial Learning Disabilities in Patients With Posterior Cortical Atrophy

Increased prevalence of language-based learning disabilities (LDs) has been previously reported in patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). This study hypothesized that patients with focal neurodegenerative syndromes outside the language network, such as posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), would have a higher rate of nonlanguage LDs, congruent with their mainly visuospatial presentation. To investigate the prevalence and type of LD (language and/or mathematical and visuospatial) in a large cohort of patients with PCA compared with patients with logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA) and amnestic Alzheimer disease (AD). This case-control study reviewed 279 medical records from a university-based clinic and research center for patients with neurodegenerative diseases for LD history, including patients with PCA (n = 95), patients with lvPPA (n = 84), and a matched cohort with amnestic AD (n = 100). No records were excluded. The study compared cognitive and neuroimaging features of patients with PCA with and without LDs. A review of the records of patients presenting from March 1, 1999, to August 31, 2014, revealed 95 PCA cases and 84 lvPPA cases. Then 100 patients with amnestic AD from this same period were chosen for comparison, matching against the groups for age, sex, and disease severity. Data analysis was performed from September 8, 2013, to November 6, 2017. Prevalence of total LD history and prevalence of language and mathematical or visuospatial LD history across all cohorts. A total of 179 atypical AD cases (95 with PCA and 84 with lvPPA) and 100 disease control cases (amnestic AD) were included in the study. The groups were not statistically different for mean (SD) age at first visit (PCA, 61.9 [7.0] years; lvPPA, 65.1 [8.7] years; amnestic AD, 64.0 [12.6] years; P = .08), mean (SD) age at first symptom (PCA, 57.5 [7.0] years; lvPPA, 61.1 [9.0] years; amnestic AD, 59.6 [13.7] years; P = .06), or sex (PCA, 66.3% female; lvPPA, 56.0% female; amnestic AD, 57.0% female; P = .30) but differed on non-right-hand preference (PCA, 18.3%; lvPPA, 20.2%; amnestic AD, 7.7%; P = .04), race/ethnicity (PCA, 88.3% white; lvPPA, 99.0% white; amnestic AD, 80.0% white; P < .001), and mean (SD) educational level (PCA, 15.7 [3.2] years; lvPPA, 16.2 [3.3] years; amnestic AD, 14.8 [3.5] years; P = .02). A total of 18 of the 95 patients with PCA (18.9%) reported a history of LD, which is greater than the 3 of 100 patients (3.0%) in the amnestic AD cohort (P < .001) and the 10.0% expected rate in the general population (P = .007). In the PCA cohort, 13 of 95 patients (13.7%) had a nonlanguage mathematical and/or visuospatial LD; this rate was greater than that in the amnestic AD (1 of 100 [1.0%]; P < .001) and lvPPA (2 of 84 [2.4%]; P = .006) cohorts and greater than the 6.0% expected general population rate of mathematical LD (P = .003). Compared with the patients with PCA without LDs, the group with LDs had greater preservation of global cognition and a more right-lateralized pattern of atrophy. Nonlanguage mathematical and visuospatial LDs were associated with focal, visuospatial predominant neurodegenerative clinical syndromes. This finding supports the hypothesis that neurodevelopmental differences in specific brain networks are associated with phenotypic manifestation of later-life neurodegenerative disease.

A Guide for Evaluating the Mathematics Programs Used by Special Education Teachers

A primary aim of mathematics programs is to accelerate the achievement of all students, including students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LD) in mathematics. Yet research suggests that many programs fail to incorporate the instructional design and delivery principles that have been validated to meet the learning needs of students with or at risk for LD in mathematics. This article provides special education teachers with a practical guide for assessing and evaluating the extent to which mathematics programs contain validated principles of explicit mathematics instruction. An example illustrates how teachers can apply the evaluation guide and use the results to address potential instructional shortfalls of mathematics programs.

An insider’s view of a mathematics learning disability: Compensating to gain access to fractions

ABSTRACTResearch on mathematics learning disability (i.e., dyscalculia) tends to adopt a deficit model of the learner and quantify the ways in which these students are deficient. In this study we adopt a radically different approach. We understand disabilities to result from issues of access, and we explore mathematics learning disability (MLD) by leveraging the expertise of an individual with first-hand experience with this disability. Dylan (second author) has a unique perspective because, in addition to having an MLD, she also majored in statistics in college. Through videotaped interviews we documented the issues of access Dylan encountered and the ways in which she compensated to gain access. In this article we focus specifically on the topic of fractions, and identify Dylan’s issues of access with standard representations of fractions, including symbolic notation, area models, and fraction manipulatives. These issues of access mirrored the difficulties documented in other students with MLD, but were not similarly problematic for Dylan. This research provides novel insight into the difficulties experienced by students with MLD, reframes deficits in terms of issues of access, and demonstrates how an individual with an MLD may learn to compensate.

Impairment of Arabic- and spoken-number processing in children with mathematical learning disability

The performance of 24 French-Quebec 8‒9-year-old children with Mathematical Learning Disability (MLD) in Arabic and spoken number recognition, comprehension and production tasks designed to assess symbolic number processing was compared to that of 37 typically developing children (TD). Children with MLD were less successful than TD children in every symbolic numerical task, including recognition of Arabic and spoken numbers. These results thus suggested that this deficit of symbolic number recognition could compromise symbolic number comprehension and production. Children with MLD also presented with general cognitive difficulties as reading difficulties. Taken together, our results clearly showed that children with MLD presented with a symbolic numerical processing deficit that could be largely attributed to their poorer written language skills.

Specific learning disability in mathematics: a comprehensive review

Math skills are necessary for success in the childhood educational and future adult work environment. This article reviews the changing terminology for specific learning disabilities (SLD) in math and describes the emerging genetics and neuroimaging studies that relate to individuals with math disability (MD). It is important to maintain a developmental perspective on MD, as presentation changes with age, instruction, and the different models (educational and medical) of identification. Intervention requires a systematic approach to screening and remediation that has evolved with more evidence-based literature. Newer directions in behavioral, educational and novel interventions are described.

Prevalence of Reading and Mathematical Learning Disabilities in Korean School-Aged Children of Jeju Region

Objectives This study investigated the prevalence of reading and mathematical learning disabilities of students at primary schools in Jeju Island,...

A Synthesis of Technology-Mediated Mathematics Interventions for Students With or at Risk for Mathematics Learning Disabilities

With the increasing availability of technology and the emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, there is an urgent need to understand the impact of technology-mediated mathematics (TMM) interventions on student mathematics outcomes. The purpose of this study was to review studies on TMM interventions that target the mathematical outcomes of K–12 students with or at risk for mathematics learning disabilities (MLDs). A review of the literature revealed 19 studies (9 single-case and 10 group/quasi experimental designs) published between 2000 and 2016. Results suggest that TMM interventions had mainly positive results on the mathematics outcomes of students with or at risk for MLD. This study also examined the extent to which principles of explicit instruction were integrated in TMM interventions. While many of the interventions provided frequent practice opportunities with academic feedback, few complemented such practice opportunities with overt demonstrations and explanations of mathematical content. Implications for designing TMM interventions are discussed.

Are WISC IQ scores in children with mathematical learning disabilities underestimated? The influence of a specialized intervention on test performance

BackgroundIntelligence measures play a pivotal role in the diagnosis of mathematical learning disabilities (MLD). Probably as a result of math-related material in IQ tests, children with MLD often display reduced IQ scores. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of math remediation extend to IQ scores. AimsThe present study investigated the impact of a special remediation program compared to a control group receiving private tutoring (PT) on the WISC IQ scores of children with MLD. MethodsWe included N=45 MLD children (7–12 years) in a study with a pre- and post-test control group design. Children received remediation for two years on average. ResultsThe analyses revealed significantly greater improvements in the experimental group on the Full-Scale IQ, and the Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, and Working Memory indices, but not Processing Speed, compared to the PT group. Children in the experimental group showed an average WISC IQ gain of more than ten points. ConclusionResults indicate that the WISC IQ scores of MLD children might be underestimated and that an effective math intervention can improve WISC IQ test performance. Taking limitations into account, we discuss the use of IQ measures more generally for defining MLD in research and practice.