Improving Word Problem Solving in Children With Math Disabilities: A Longitudinal Investigation

• In Event: Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: Special Education and Mathematics

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive strategy interventions on word problem solving with students identified as math disabled (MD). Children in grades 2 and 3 (N=120) with and without (MD) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: verbal strategies, visual strategies, verbal + visual strategies, and control. The main findings were: (1) cognitive strategy interventions improved problem solving across four time points; (2) significant differences in intervention effects were found between MD and non-MD students; (3) visual-only and verbal-only treatments were found to be more effective than verbal + visual treatments combined. Findings have strong implications for the utility of cognitive strategy interventions in accounting for improvement on outcome measures related to math achievement.

Authors

• Dennis T. Sisco-Taylor, University of California - Riverside

• Joseph A. Rios, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Nicole M. Garcia, University of California - Riverside

• H. Lee Swanson, University of California - Riverside