Obudo, F. (2008). Teaching Mathematics to Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review of Literature.

This week I read a review of literature discussing students with learning disabilities (LD) and math instruction.  This review provided a base of sources that might be beneficial in my continued research of mathematics.  The author has found four critical factors in the success of students with learning disabilities.  They are teacher training, teacher attitudes, the use of effective strategies, and the application of effective curriculum.  Teacher training is important because many teachers today feel that they are not adequately trained to teach LD students in the general education curriculum.  Many more hours are spent learning and practicing reading instruction in pre-service teacher programs. Math instruction needs to become a priority because of the needs of students after they leave school.  Teacher attitudes are important because teachers that are not positive give LD students negative attention.  This review feels that the more experience the general education teacher has with special education students the more positive their attitudes were towards math instruction with LD students.  Effective strategies are important because students that are only taught one way tend to not learn and comprehend the skill being taught.  They seem to need many different strategies to be able to complete different math tasks.  This review found that the more strategies taught, the better the student is to complete higher order of thinking tasks.  The last suggestion is to use assistive technology to assist students in math instruction.  The use of computer programs and similar activities increased students’ ability to develop automatic retrieval of information. 

Jordan, N. C., & Hanich, L. B. (2001). Mathematical Thinking in Second-Grade Children with Different Forms of LD. Journal of Learning Disabilities , v33 n6 p567-78.

This week I read an article discussing the math thinking in a group of 2^nd grade students.  Research show that there are two deficiency areas when dealing with math cognition: the retrieval of number facts and the ability to solve story problems.  Students with learning disabilities (LD) use less mature ways to figure out math problems.  This seems to worsen at each grade level.  This study looks at the differences in children with a math only learning disability (MD), reading only (RD), math and reading (MD/RD) and a control group without any disabilities (NA) for comparison.  In previous studies students with MD only scored worse than the average students when material was timed.  MD/RD scored worse on both timed and untimed. MD has shown weaknesses in rapid fact retrieval and problem solving efficiency.  Whereas MD/RD has more issues with problem conceptualization and calculation strategies.

This specific study focused on some differences in number facts, story problems, written calculation, and place value in the different forms of LD mentioned earlier.  They found that MD/RD showed weaknesses in all areas.  MD only has significantly more trouble with story problems.  RD scored very similar to NA.  All groups used a form of finger counting except MD/RD had 50% more errors.  Written calculation was difficult for all groups.  MD/RD use automatic retrieval significantly less than all other groups.  The conclusion of this study is that, when researching, children with different types of disability should be separated because results are not accurate when combined.  

Cortiella, C (2005) No Child Left Behind: Determining Appropriate Assessment Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. National Center for Learning Disabilities

This week I read a Parent Advocacy Brief from the National Center for Learning Disabilities.  It discusses the current No Child Left Behind Law and how accommodations are determined and used in school setting for students with learning disabilities.  I really feel the information in it is beneficial for my audience that might not know a lot about accommodations as well as me when I start to define accommodations in my own study.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal law that mandates that states must provide annual testing for grade school children to assess their abilities at each grade level.  This includes the learning and assessment of students with learning disabilities.  These students with disabilities are covered legally under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which states that appropriate accommodations must be provided to help level the playing ground for students with disabilities. 

Anther difference that needs to be understood is the difference between accommodations and modifications.  A modification changes the curriculum or the reduction of the amount of learning that will take place.  An accommodation is used to reduce the effects of the learning disability so that materials and expectations do not have to be reduced.  There is also a difference between assessment and instructional accommodations.  There are many accommodations that are used during instruction but not allowed on state-assessment.  Also there is a difference between a standard and a non-standard accommodation.  A standard accommodation is allowed for both instruction and testing situations.  Non-standard is not allowed during testing because it might change the targeted skill being assessed.  For example, I might read a story aloud to students before I give a reading comprehension quiz.  This would be considered a non-standard accommodation because during state testing students must read all material that tests comprehension independently.  This is because students are being tested for their reading comprehension not their listening comprehension. 

One of the very important tasks in a child’s education is deciding what accommodations are necessary for students.  This is a decision made by the student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) team members.  These accommodations are decided on a yearly basis and must be used during instruction and assessment to make them useful.  All teachers involved with that specific student are required to utilize each accommodation to assist each student.  When selecting the accommodations the team must consider the needs of the student.  What are their strengths? Weaknesses? How will each accommodation affect learning?  It is also important to review each accommodation after its use to make sure that it was beneficial.  Was it used regularly? Was the student willing to use it? Where the accommodations difficult to administer?  Then the team must evaluate the needs of the student for the next year.

There are four main categories in which the team chooses accommodations.  First is presentation.  For example, students can use larger print, audio tapes and talking material if they have difficultly or the inability to visually read or participate in learning.  Second is the response.  If students have difficulty with memory, sequencing and organization these accommodations might be beneficial: a scribe, note takers, tape recorder, spelling device.  Timing and scheduling is the third type; for example extended time, frequent breaks and multiple sessions.  These accommodations are beneficial for students that cannot focus for extended periods of time or just need additional time to process information.  Last is the setting.  Students that are distracted by large group setting sometimes focus better in smaller groups.  These students might benefit from a change in testing locations, earphones, or study carrels. 

After reviewing my teacher leadership interview I realized how much I did enjoy learning about others in different school situations.  It is very uplifting to be able to discuss information with fellow teachers that I might not have in the past.  Many of the questions that I asked were interesting and knowledgeable.  Yet, they were probably not something that I would have talked with other teachers about if it were not for this assignment. It has definitely opened up new doors because now when I see my interviewees we seem to talk more about the topics we discussed during the interview.  It gives me new insights because my questions have become a dialogue that I know will continue into the future.

I think I did a good job picking my interviewees.  It would have been extremely simple to pick teachers that are in my building or that I see regularly.  I stepped out of the box by asking teachers that were more fit in the situations I was interested in.  I also feel that I did a nice job keeping the interview on topic.  I stayed focused on the material we were discussing and did my best rerouting tangents that were not about teacher leadership; not that I did not let the interviewees go into a tangent that might not have been relevant.  I can say that I was quick to get them back on task. 

There are two things that I feel I need to work on while interviewing.  Sometimes I felt like I put my own personal opinion into a question.  For example if I feel negative about something I ask my voice seems negative.  I need to work on my tone when asking a question so I seem neutral to get an accurate picture of what my interviewee thinks.  Also I get nervous at time when the material I am asking about is something that I know little about or if I ask a question that upsets my interviewee.  I also mess up grammatically when I get nervous.  It seems sometimes like I cannot figure out what I am trying to say.  This is something that I continue to work on daily.

Overall, I feel this assignment was a good experience for me.

Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Prentice, K. (2004). Responsiveness to Mathematical Problem-Solving Instruction: Comparing Students at Risk of Mathematics Disability With and Without Risk of Reading Disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(4), 293-306. doi: Article.

This article discusses the differences in having a math disability with having a math and reading disability.    They report that 4-7% of school children have a math disability and there is not much research into the effects of this type of disability.  Mathematics is just as important as reading since it accounts for many skills necessary in the adult world.  This article discusses three limitations from previous research.  First is the limited focus on arithmetic and arithmetic story problems.  Many times students with disabilities do not get much farther than one step mathematic story problems.  It is important for students to be able to do much more.  Second is the relationship of mathematics disabilities to reading disabilities.  This article suggests that more research is needed in coordination with the mixing of reading and math disabilities.  What is the relationship?  Third is inadequate attention to treatment responsiveness.  The authors found that students whom had a learning disability in math from Kindergarten through the end of 1^st grade were likely to struggle with math in the areas of computation, counting speed, memory of facts than those that did not have a disability.  Students with math and reading disabilities both score lower on assessments and make the least amount of growth in the school year.  This study suggests that there are “more pervasive problems for students with combined math disability and reading disability than for those with math disability alone” (pg 295).  This study suggests two things for teachers.  First, the use of “effective intervention to use in a whole-class format to enhance student achievement in the area of complex problem solving” (pg 305).  Second students “require additional, supplementary instruction, which may involve intensive tutoring” (pg305).

At this point I am certain that I want to research the connections made between mathematics and learning disabilities.  I have been reading about the association between reading disabilities and math knowledge.  I know that there are links between the two because if the issues my students have daily with math instruction and testing.  I have read about calculators, additional time, and oral testing.  This week I am currently reading more about the connections of reading to math when looking at disabilities.  One topic that is big in my corporation is the use of math reference folders.  Math reference folders are individualized per student and used to assist during math instruction and testing.  Students are allowed to use them on state testing as well.  All accommodations are subject for controversial discussions when used with students with and without disabilities.  What I have found though is that reference folders are a fairly new accommodation.  There is not much research concerning then individually.  So my first question is if I use this subject for my Action Research Project, what will my literature section contain?  Would discussing other accommodations be relevant?  If so, my first question would be- are reference folders useful for students?   Some students only use them when instructed to do so.  Would students perform better if they used them more often?  How do I judge what each student needs on their folder and when does that item need to be removed?  Another issue that I will face with this topic is that I will not have a “class” to really get information from in my resource room.  I have three students that will receive math instruction in the resource room daily.  The rest of them will be included into the general education curriculum.  So should I use different grade levels in my study or should I focus on one?  Should I look at the few students in my room that are not working at grade level or the students that I will be assisting in the general education room that are working at grade level?  Overall, I do not have a specific question I want to ask yet.  I am very open to any ideas that could help me narrow my focus. 

This article discusses the differences in testing situations when questions are read to students and when they are not.  Testing accommodations, according to this article, are actually a new concept.  It was not until 1990’s that reading comprehension was a known issue concerning math testing.  The research for this article shows that learning disability (LD) students do better on tests when questions are read aloud.  One question this article asked looked into the action of reading the test.  Is the material being altered when it was read aloud?  The answer is controversial.  Students with learning disabilities in elementary schools did do better when questions where read aloud.  Middle school students did not show this growth.  The authors then looked into the word choices, decoding issues, word meaning, sentence structure, and length of problems.  The goal for these children would be to create problems that create less strain on working memory and more energy on math solutions.  By doing this tests would be able to measure the actual math comprehension of the material instead of the ability to read and comprehend sentence structure.  By doing this students would not have to have math questions read to them.  They would be able to take the test independently and therefore the oral testing would not modify the material.  The study did find that students that have learning disabilities in both math and reading did not benefit from the oral testing.  These student’s scores did not increase at any grade level when tests were read.  Another point the author made was that in their study the oral reading took place as a video tape.  Students had the ability to ignore the video and just take the test with the noise as a distraction in the background.  The author then questioned if maybe this is why students in middle school did not show improvement.  Where they simply not listening?  Would it be better for these students to receive accommodations on an as needed basic so that they are able to do what they can on their own?  This study’s finding show that reducing the linguistic complexity of test items on math tests would increase understandability.  They recommend that future research be conducted between linguistic characteristics and accommodations effectiveness.  

Bibliography

Helwig, R., Rozek-Tedesco, M. A., & Tindal, G. (2002). An Oral versus a Standard Administration of a Large-Scale Mathematics Test. Journal of Special Education , 39-47.  

The article “Beyond “Getting the Answer”; Calculators Help Learning Disabled Students Get the Concepts” by the Center for Implementing Technology in Education remains focused that the use of calculators is beneficial for all students especially those with learning disabilities.  Calculators create better operational and problem solving skills.  Most students that are able to use calculators also have better attitudes and feeling towards math instruction.  The article introduces a flow chart to help teachers decide when calculators are beneficial and when they are not.  When teaching computation strategies the calculators are not needed, but when doing higher order of thinking story type problems they are beneficial.  Some teachers and parents feel that calculators are not benefiting the students but the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) feels that this is true.  Curriculum that is created and utilized for everyone’s benefit is the most useful.  Calculators can help in many different types of learning:

Recognition Learning- Students are able to explore new math concepts.  By seeing math procedures and steps students are able to observe the calculator’s “thinking”. 

Strategic Learning- When students are able to use a calculator they don’t seem to worry so much about the little steps in a problem.  They are able to focus on the higher-level learning that should be taking place.  Plus for students with learning disabilities, the recollection of facts is somewhat difficult.  Having a calculator available creates fluency and accuracy.

Affective Learning- This is the idea that calculators create scaffolding to difficult problems that might not have been possible for students with learning disabilities before.  Students that only work on computation strategies are not being exposed to higher level thinking.  With calculators, the bridge is build between computation and story problems and the frustration level is decreased.

Bibliography

Education, C. f. (2007). LD ONLINE. Retrieved 5 6, 2008, from http://www.ldonline.org/article/19274   

I have been looking into a few different areas concerning students with learning disabilities.  I have found that I am very interested in researching three different areas. 

1.       Accommodations and modifications using in the general education classroom and the resource room.  Accommodations are parts of each student’s Individualized Education Program.  I want to know which accommodations are necessary and which create a “crutch” that is not needed.  Accommodations are also used for students that are being sent through our Student Assistance Team.  It would be interesting to find out which accommodations are useful and which are not.  I could, in addition, try to find ways to help these students with general education material.  Another idea is state testing- which accommodations are useful for that testing and how do we decide as educators who gets them and who does not. 

2.       Learning disabilities pull-out time is also an interest for me.  I want students to be able to be in the general education classroom as much as possible.  How do I, as the resource teacher, decide which students need pull-out time and which just need accommodations in the classroom?  Also, what is the correct way to re-introduce a student back into the general education classroom?  Do students succeed after they are back in the general education classroom?   

3.      Reading groups- I have taught reading groups in two ways.  One, by grade level in which all students at that grade level read as a group no matter their ability in my room (which is already small group).  Two, by groups that mix grade levels and go with ability levels.  There are pros and cons to both ideas- which is better for students with learning disabilities?

 I think I will be going with idea #1. This is the topic that I feel is most valuable for my school because of the push to include students with disabilities in the classroom as much as possible.  I am interested in all three topics so I could definitely use feedback as to which idea would be best.

I read an article that discusses the social perspective of LD (Learning Disabilities) in schools today.  The article provided insights about the ways that LD is utilized in schools.  Whereas I did not agree with some points the author stated I did find it thought provoking as I decide what I want to research.  I also believe that this article faced egocentric thinking head on.  The author gave the thoughts and experiences teachers face in schools every day, then turned it around into what he thought should be happening in schools.  He gave examples that were familiar to educators about ways to handle situations with students that have LD.  The article started by presenting how schools test and implement LD into the school system then he went into how he feels it should be looked into.  For example, currently schools use testing to identify LD.  The author feels that the social issues behind LD are just as important; schools do not use this information.  Personally, I believe that this article provides great examples of the social presentation necessary to create the ideal learning environment. The only issue I found with this article in accordance with egocentric thinking is that there is not “data” that proves his opinions.  Yes he reminds the readers of what others do in the classroom daily, but he does not support his statements with proof of what he thinks works.  As I continue to research my interest I will continue to look at other strategies to teaching students with LD. 

 Bibliography

Curt Dudley-Marling. The Social Construction of Learning Disabilities. . Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/proedcw/jld/2004/00000037/00000006/art00002?token=007019cf8801c78d6405847447b23562f2a3f6a42572b46213e3375726f7e672364334f582a2f575b55726949266d655fcfd73554d1be4ca.