This case study involves one public school in a suburb of a major metropolitan area, focusing on one classroom of first grade students selected from a pool of volunteer classrooms. The first grade class of students, during their regular mathematics instruction, were given three tasks by their teachers designed to elicit a productive struggle…

Recognizing patterns is an essential skill in early mathematics education. However, first graders often have difficulties with tasks such as extending patterns of the form ABCABC. Studies show that this pattern-recognition ability is a good predictor of later pre-algebraic skills and mathematical achievement in general, or the development of…

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders among children and adolescents. In addition, anxiety is strongly connected to academic performance, poor social functioning, and specific learning disabilities. The current study aimed to explore anxiety in new first-fourth grade students identified with learning difference(s) after 1…

Learners' foundational math skills obtained in the elementary grades profoundly impact their preparation for learning math in the upper grades. However, there is a deficiency in the foundational math skills necessary to be proficient in math and equivalent with their peers at grade level (Burton, 2018). In the elementary classrooms of kindergarten…

We examined dynamic assessment's (DA's) added value over traditional assessments for identifying Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs) risk for developing mathematics disabilities, as a function of the language of test administration (English vs. Spanish), type of math outcome, and EL's language dominance. At the start of first grade, ELs (N =…

Previous research makes clear that racism can be a barrier to parental involvement in education. However, it is less clear how racism can facilitate parental involvement. This study uses national early childhood education data to gauge if racial/ethnic and gender disparities exist in teacher contact with parents/guardians. The study's aims are to…

Mathematical difficulties have been distinguished as mathematics learning disability (MLD) and persistent low achievement (LA). Based on 1,880 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten (age 6) to fourth grade, this study examined the early risk factors for MLD and LA. Distinct groups of MLD (6.0% of the sample) and LA (25.7%) children…

Previous studies reported that a substantial number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter challenges in mathematics as they advance through their education. The present study evaluates the mathematical competence of 17 students diagnosed with ASD who were recruited from first through fourth grades in 12 different mainstream…

This research project focuses on identifying the difficulties that children between 6-7 years-old have in learning natural numbers, when working a teaching model with a Von Neumann formal mathematical basis. In this study, we present the analysis of the experimentation with a first-grade class in the construction of zero and one numbers,…

Students with General Learning Difficulties present low levels of social competence. In order to increase them, students participate in school psychological support programmes. There are no research data available in Greece regarding social competence in students with General Learning Difficulties in the first grades of elementary school. The…

This qualitative study examines the challenges and supports inherent in a student-centered mathematics curriculum developed for a constructivist environment. Mathematics education faculty and special education faculty from a university college of education collaborated on this study to determine how students responded to specific components of…

There is an emerging research base exploring the relation between mathematics vocabulary and achievement; therefore, we conducted a pilot study of a mathematics vocabulary intervention for first-grade students with mathematics difficulty (MD). At posttest, the vocabulary intervention group scored significantly higher than the active control on…

We examined dynamic assessment's (DA's) added value over traditional assessments for identifying Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs') risk for developing mathematics disabilities, as a function of the language of test administration (English vs. Spanish), type of math outcome, and EL's language dominance. At the start of 1st grade, ELs (N =…

In this synthesis, we reviewed 65 studies involving elementary students (i.e., grades 1-5) identified with mathematics difficulty (MD) in which authors implemented a mathematics intervention. Of these studies, we identified 33 group designs, 9 quasi-experimental designs, and 23 single-case designs. We aimed to synthesize performance differences…

Supporting students with difficulties in learning mathematics is a challenge for teachers and educational administrators. Formative assessment is considered to play a successful role in supporting at-risk students as well as students without difficulties in mathematics. There is a need for intervention programs, including formative assessment…