Rate of change (i.e., slope) is a critical mathematics concept for success in everyday life, academics, and professional careers. Students with or at risk of learning disabilities struggle with solving rate-of-change problems, especially word problems. Interventions that incorporate representations and problem-solving strategies are effective for…

Children with mathematical difficulties need to spend more time than typically achieving children on solving even simple equations. Since these tasks already require a larger share of their cognitive resources, additional demands imposed by the need to switch between tasks may lead to a greater decline of performance in children with mathematical…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of algebraic equation solving intervention for sixth graders with mathematics learning difficulties (MD). A total of 48 students with MD were randomly assigned to either the algebraic equation solving intervention, "Mystery Math" (n = 24) or control condition (n = 24). The…

The purpose of this study was threefold: to examine unique and shared risk factors of comorbidity for reading comprehension and word-problem solving difficulties, to explore whether language minority (LM) learners are at increased risk of what we refer to as "higher order comorbidity" (reading comprehension and word-problem solving…

Research has suggested that different strategies used when solving fraction problems are highly correlated with students' problem-solving accuracy. This study (a) utilized latent profile modeling to classify students into three different strategic developmental levels in solving fraction comparison problems and (b) accordingly provided…

Students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as operational instead of relational. Research indicates misinterpretation of the equal sign occurs because students receive relatively little exposure to equations that promote relational understanding of the equal sign. No study, however, has examined effects of nonstandard equations on the equation…

This study examined the effect of schema-based instruction (SBI) on the proportional problem-solving performance of students with mathematics difficulties only (MD) and students with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD). Specifically, we examined the responsiveness of 260 seventh grade students identified as MD or MDRD to a 6-week treatment…

"QuickSmart" is a basic academic skills intervention designed for persistently low-achieving students in the middle years of schooling that aims to improve the automaticity of basic skills to improve higher-order processes, such as problem solving and comprehension, as measured on standardized tests. The "QuickSmart" instructional program consists…