An official website of the United States government
Posing questions is a direct way for teachers to push students to verbalize justifications and make connections among ideas—a crucial component of giving students with learning disabilities access to high levels of mathematical reasoning—but this skill is difficult to learn. We recruited four pre-service special education teachers to provide 1-1 algebra tutoring to students with learning disabilities while receiving instruction related to posing mathematics questions and supporting students’ reasoning. The pre-service teachers increased their frequency of questions overall and of questions that probed students’ thinking or explored mathematical relationships. Students gave correct and complete responses to these more complex questions approximately half of the time; however, pre-service teachers most often reduced the complexity of their questions when students gave incomplete responses. The findings of this study illustrate the potential for pre-service special education teachers to develop questioning routines that engage students with learning disabilities in mathematical reasoning while scaffolding their progress toward new understanding.
more »
« less
Perspectives on Algebra I tutoring experiences with students with learning disabilities.
The researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of the perceptions of school personnel and pre-service teachers about an Algebra I tutoring program for students with learning disabilities. The researchers surveyed and interviewed the participants about the effectiveness of the program for the mathematics learning of the students with LD at the school and as a learning experience for the pre-service teachers. The school personnel indicated there was a mutually beneficial relationship between the tutors and the school. The perceptions of the tutors revealed considerations about the challenges they face as Algebra I tutors of students with learning disabilities including remembering Algebra I content, posing strategic questions to students, dealing with students’ math anxiety, and conveying Algebra I content accessibly. The tutors reported positive experiences in the program including learning from field experience and, in particular, learning to promote the progress and learning of students with learning disabilities using gestures and strategic questioning.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1813903
- PAR ID:
- 10250110
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Learning disabilities
- Volume:
- 18
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1937-6928
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 177-192
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Students with learning disabilities (LD), like other learners, show a range of resources and strategies for reasoning about complex concepts in mathematics. This study comes from a project in which a group of five ninth-grade students with LD participated in a once-weekly tutoring program with university pre-service teachers. We asked, what strategies did students use to reason about slope? Students drew upon knowledge of concepts related to constant covariation when given the opportunity. This study suggests that students with LD have rich conceptual knowledge that can be leveraged to improve their success in Algebra.more » « less
-
Field experience personnel, such as cooperating teachers (CTs) and university supervisors (USPs), play an important role in supporting mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) to learn about equitable teaching practices. We employed case study methodology to explore the perceptions of CTs and USPs about mathematics identity. A group of CTs and USPs participated in professional development during the Fall 2023 semester to learn about ways to develop students’ mathematics identity. In this brief research report we share these CTs’ and USPs’ ideas about their own mathematics identity, their students’ mathematics identity, and how these ideas influence their teaching practice. Our findings have implications for redesigning field experience in teacher education programs.more » « less
-
The authors describe how professors can work with schools (teachers and/or administrators) to create and implement a tutoring program designed to promote the learning of Algebra 1 by students with learning disabilities as well as provide a learning experience for undergraduates majoring in special education. From the professors’ perspective, we report on our experiences with developing trusting relationships with schools, matching our tutoring services with the needs of the schools and its students, the logistics regarding setting up trainings and tutoring sessions, and how we provide a learning experience for special education majors and students with learning disabilities.more » « less
-
Better understanding preservice teachers’ current perceptions toward students with disabilities will allow mathematics educators to create specific strategies for helping students to develop perceptions promoting inclusive classroom environments. To access these perceptions, we developed an online survey that asks respondents about their knowledge of disabilities, their experiences with people with disabilities, and decisions they would make based on classroom scenarios that involve students with disabilities. We gave this survey to 14 preservice secondary school teachers (PSTs). Key findings include five PSTs presented an inclusive perception toward students with disabilities, seven PSTs presented an ambiguous perception and the perceptions of two PSTs remained unknown. All but the latter two PSTs provided at least some evidence of their willingness to fully include students with disabilities in their mathematics classrooms.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- The DOI is not currently available.
