Teaching Constant Rate-of-Change Problem-Solving to Secondary Students With or at Risk of Learning Disabilities

• Published in: Journal of learning disabilities Vol. 58; no. 3; pp. 210 - 224
• Main Authors: Bundock, Kaitlin, Callan, Gregory, McClain, Maryellen Brunson, Benney, Chandler M., Longhurst, David N., Rolf, Kristen R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2025; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic staff; Adolescent; At risk populations; Dyscalculia - rehabilitation; Everyday life; Female; Humans; Intervention; Learning disabilities; Learning Disabilities - rehabilitation; Male; Mathematical Concepts; Mathematics; Mathematics - education; People with disabilities; Problem solving; Problem Solving - physiology; Secondary school students; Students; Students with disabilities; Teaching; Video conferencing; Word Problems (Mathematics); content-area instruction; single-subject methods; mathematics; instructional strategies; thinking/cognition
• ISSN: 0022-2194; 1538-4780; 1538-4780
• DOI: 10.1177/00222194241254094

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 improving the word problem-solving performance of students with disabilities. This multiple-probe, multiple-baseline, single-case design study evaluated the effects of an intervention that included an integrated, concrete-representational-abstract teaching framework with an embedded problem-solving strategy (POD Check) on students’ rate-of-change word problem-solving performance. The intervention was delivered virtually via video conferencing technology. Four middle- and high-school students with or at risk of mathematics learning disabilities in the U.S. Intermountain West region participated in the intervention. Results indicate evidence of a functional relation between the intervention and students’ word problem-solving performance, and effects were maintained 2–4 weeks after the intervention. The findings of this study provide implications for mathematics intervention research and practice for students with learning disabilities.