A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies of Mathematics Difficulty

• Published in: Journal of learning disabilities Vol. 51; no. 6; pp. 523 - 539
• Main Authors: Nelson, Gena, Powell, Sarah R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2018; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities
• Subjects: Difficulty Level; Disability Identification; Dyscalculia; Elementary Secondary Education; Identification; Learning Disabilities; Literary criticism; Longitudinal studies; Mathematics; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics Instruction; Mathematics Skills; Medical diagnosis; Special education; Student Development; Students; Systematic review; predictive; learning disability; longitudinal; mathematics; learning trajectories
• ISSN: 0022-2194; 1538-4780; 1538-4780
• DOI: 10.1177/0022219417714773

Some students may be diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics or dyscalculia, whereas other students may demonstrate below-grade-level mathematics performance without a disability diagnosis. In the literature, researchers often identify students in both groups as experiencing math difficulty. To understand the performance of students with math difficulty, we examined 35 studies that reported longitudinal results of mathematics achievement (i.e., mathematics performance measured across at least a 12-month span). Our primary goal was to conduct a systematic review of these studies and to understand whether the growth of students with math difficulty was comparable or stagnant when compared with that of students without math difficulty. We also analyzed whether identification of math difficulty was predictive of mathematics achievement in later grades and whether a diagnosis of math difficulty was stable across grade levels. Results indicate that students with math difficulty demonstrate growth on mathematics measures, but this growth still leads to lower performance than that of students without math difficulty. Identification of math difficulty is strongly related to math performance in subsequent grades, and this diagnosis is often stable. Collectively, this literature indicates that students with math difficulty continue to struggle with mathematics in later grades.