Funded Research
Instructional Effects on Achievement Growth of Children with Learning Difficulties in Mathematics
Source: Institute of Education Sciences
Active: 3/3/2007 - 2/28/2010
Investigator(s):
Paul Morgan
George Farkas
The goal of this project is to identify the most effective type of instruction for children with, or at risk for, mathematics disabilities, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative dataset maintained by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics to track an initial sample of 21,260 kindergarten children as they progress through their school years. The project has three aims. The first is to identify the developmental dynamics of poor mathematics performance in grades K-5. The second is to test the effects of time spent on alternative types of mathematics teaching practices and content in preventing or remediating mathematics disabilities, including whether these contrasting practices lead to consistent achievement gains for two subgroups of children with or at risk for mathematics disabilities -- those experiencing mathematics difficulties (MD) alone, and those experiencing both mathematics and reading difficulties (MD/RD). The project's third aim is to replicate these analyses for non-MD students, and so test whether the same types of instructional practices are effective for both MD and non-MD students.
