Recent educational policy has raised the standards that all students, including students with disabilities, must meet in mathematics. To examine the strategies currently used to support students with learning disabilities, the authors reviewed literature from 2006 to 2014 on mathematics interventions for students with learning disabilities. The 12 articles reviewed contain various instructional focuses, including systematic instructions, problem-based instruction, and visual representation. This review includes discussion of the interventions used, including the success of interventions used for both students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed, including the need for continued research on middle and high school interventions to address a variety of mathematical skills and concepts.
In the current educational climate, teachers are required to find methods to give all students, including students with mild intellectual disability, access to the general education curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effects of the concrete−semiconcrete−abstract instructional sequence and model-based problem solving to teach area and volume to sixth-grade students with mild intellectual disability. The researchers in this study utilized a multiple probe design, a variation of the multiple baseline design, to establish the functional relationship between the intervention and students’ performance on area and volume problems. The participants solved a high percentage of the sixth-grade-level problems addressed on the criterion tests, but success with more complex problems will be necessary for proficiency at grade level with the Common Core Standards for Mathematics.
About 5% to 10% of school-age children have been identified as having mathematics disabilities (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Hollenbeck, 2007), and students whose math performance was ranked at or below the 20th to 35th percentile are often considered at risk for learning disabilities or for having learning difficulties in mathematics (LDM; Bryant et al., 2011; Fuchs et al., 2007). Students with LDM lag behind their peers beginning in early elementary school and continue to fall further behind as they transition from elementary to secondary school. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; 2015) mathematics assessment data, during the past 10 years, score gains were seen at Grades 4 and 8 for higher performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles, but there were no significant changes over the same period for lower performing students. For instance, according to fourth-grade NAEP mathematic achievement data, the percentage of students without disabilities who performed below the basic level significantly decreased from 17% in 2005 to 14% in 2015. However, this improvement trend is absent for students with disabilities. In fact, the percentage of students with disabilities who performed below the basic level slightly increased from 43% in 2005 to 45% in 2015. It seems that the gap between students with disabilities and their same-age peers has become wider and certainly does not seem to be closing. In conjunction with this lack of growth in mathematics learning among students with disabilities, expectations for all students, including those with LDM, have been elevated in today's educational climate. In particular, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM; Common Core State Standards Initiative [CCSSI], 2012) emphasize conceptual understanding of ideas and the connections between mathematical ideas. The CCSSM also emphasizes that students "model with mathematics." In particular, the Common Core emphasizes higher order thinking and reasoning as well as algebra readiness throughout elementary mathematics. The challenge of meeting the expectations of the Common Core Standards is compounded by the shortage of teachers certified to teach mathematics (Hutchison, 2012) and more so, the shortage of special education teachers that is "severe, chronic, and pervasive" and presents threats to the quality of educational services provided to these students (Billingsley & McLeskey, 2004, p. 2). As such, there is a need to explore potential intervention support that addresses the new emphasis of the Common Core to facilitate all students' access to higher order thinking and meeting the standards.
The number of students with learning disabilities (LD) enrolling in postsecondary education has increased rapidly over the past decade. It is imperative to investigate what interventions have been used to assist students with LD in achieving academic success. To examine the interventions currently used to support students with LD in postsecondary education, the authors reviewed the relevant literature from 2000 to 2016. Four primary types of interventions were identified from 12 articles: assistive technology, direct assistance, strategy instruction, and comprehensive support program. The findings indicate that the student-centered approach is an important characteristic of current academic interventions for students with LD in postsecondary education. The authors also provide implications for researchers and practitioners for improving postsecondary interventions on students with LD.
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