Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) demonstrate significant academic deficits across content areas (Coutinho, 1986; Lane, Barton-Arwood, Nelson, & Wehby, 2008; Nelson, Benner, Lane, & Smith, 2004; Reid, Gonzalez, Nordness, Trout, & Epstein, 2004; Ruhl & Berlinghoff, 1992). Mathematics, however, appears to be especially…

Computation activities focusing on speed and accuracy do not provide children with the opportunity to learn or develop their own mental computation strategies. Sets out some goals and ideas for teaching mental computation and introduces a card game for helping children compute mentally. (ASK)

Six easy-to-learn strategies are offered to help students with learning problems in mathematics make error-free subtraction calculations when either the subtrahend or remainder is a 9, 8, or 7 and when the minuend is in the teens. (CB)

Suggests that strategy choice is a misleading characterization of efficient mental calculation and that teaching mental calculation methods as a whole is not conducive to flexibility. Proposes an alternative in which calculation is thought of as an interaction between noticing and knowledge. Presents an associated teaching approach to promote…

Nigerian second graders (n=58) were given instruction on using counting and thinking strategies. Compared to 54 controls, they performed better on recall and retention of number facts. (SK)

Describes the method to solve problems called T-E-M-T-T: trial, error, and modified trial through technology. The method integrates students' skills of estimation, mental computation, and appropriate choice of calculator use. Includes 2 activities for each of grades K-4 and 5-8 that illustrate the method. (MDH)

This book addresses different types of thinking, including critical, creative, and analytical, and presents a variety of problem-solving strategies, along with specific ways they can be taught to students. The main emphases of the book are thinking and mathematics, problem solving, and the application of computational skills. The problem-solving…

Describes the success, the methods (mental, informal written, standard algorithm) and the strategies of informal written arithmetic to be observed when 300 elementary students worked on six addition and six subtraction problems with three-digit numbers. (Author/MM)

Considered was the question of whether a strategy that was widely used by young children in clinical interviews occurred in less structured situations. Findings indicated that it did not occur in the performance of a routine counting task by preschoolers. Reasons for apparent discrepancies are discussed. (CW)

Explores students' abilities in mental computation, finds out the strategies they use most naturally, and develops a theoretical framework by giving 60 children a questionnaire and interviewing them on a series of arithmetic operations to be solved by mental computation. Generates a classification of children's strategies. Contains 31 references.…

Presents results from an Australian study examining whether children who use cognitive strategies in solving simple addition questions develop greater proficiency in addition than children who do not use such strategies. Describes the subjects, instruments, procedure, and instructional treatment. Concludes that the development of cognitive…

Reanalyzes data obtained in 1987 on mental calculation strategies used by 11-year-olds in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Classifies mental strategies developed in the past decade in international research. Compares frequency and effectiveness of the strategies used by pupils of different levels of attainment. Discusses basic arithmetic…

Fifth-grade students (n=101) were studied to determine the effect of instruction on (1) the development of computational estimation strategies; (2) types of estimation errors made; and (3) estimation skills. Results indicate students adopt the estimation strategies taught and that introducing mathematical concepts through estimation increases…

A five-year follow-up of arithmetic calculation abilities of 10 low-income fourth graders with specific language impairment (SLI) involved comparisons with typically developing same age peers and with typically developing younger subjects. Results support evidence that children with SLI have difficulty with rote memory and document the…

This study, involving 40 students (grades 2-8) with learning disabilities, found that students who participated in curriculum-based measurement test-taking strategy training scored higher on a posttreatment computation test than students without the strategy training. Use of a goal strategy did not result in any achievement differences.…