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…

The main purposes of this study were to test the effects of teaching at-risk 4th graders to provide explanations for their mathematics work and examine whether those effects occur by compensating for limitations in cognitive processes. We randomly assigned 212 children to 3 conditions: a control group and 2 variants of a multi-component fraction…

Cognitive strategies are important tools for children with math difficulties (MD) in learning to solve word problems. The effectiveness of strategy training, however, depends on working memory capacity (WMC). Thus, children with MD but with relatively higher WMC are more likely to benefit from strategy training, whereas children with lower WMC may…

Recent intervention studies directed to improve problem solving accuracy in children with math difficulties (MD) have found support for teaching cognitive strategies. This study addresses the question: What role does working memory capacity (WMC) play in strategy outcomes for children with MD? Four prediction models can be applied to strategy…

This study investigated the role of strategy instruction on solution accuracy in children with and without serious math difficulties (MD) in problem solving. Children's posttest solution accuracy was compared on standardized and experimental measures as a function of strategy conditions. Strategy conditions included curriculum materials that…

The current study examined social cognitive skills in children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) compared to normally achieving (NA) children. The relation between social cognitive skills and psychosocial adjustment was also investigated. There were no group differences on children's ability to represent orally presented social vignettes.…