In this article, the author will demonstrate how gestures--often used in combination with offloading information on scratch paper--can be used to help students with difficulties in mathematics succeed with secondary level algebra. The authors will provide key examples from three studies of the algebra learning of students with mathematics…

In this paper, we make a case for the importance of teaching secondary school level algebra to students with learning disabilities (LD). Furthermore, we illustrate how they struggle and present best-practices on how they are best supported. We demonstrate effective ways of how teachers can show students with LD how to solve challenging algebra…

The researcher conducted a qualitative case study of two sessions of a preservice teacher tutoring a student with a learning disability on Algebra 1 content. In this study, the focus was the tutor's use of gestures overlaid on the students' offloaded work on paper to help the student make sense of the problems. The student also demonstrated how…

The authors describe how professors can work with schools (teachers and/ or administrators) to create and implement a tutoring program designed to promote the learning of Algebra 1 by students with learning disabilities as well as provide a learning experience for undergraduates majoring in special education. From the professors' perspective, we…

Posing questions is a direct way for teachers to push students to verbalize justifications and make connections among ideas--a crucial component of giving students with learning disabilities access to high levels of mathematical reasoning--but this skill is difficult to learn. We recruited four pre-service special education teachers to provide 1-1…

We provide a detailed description of a purposefully sampled tutoring session during which a student with a learning disability displayed common tendencies we have seen in our work on algebra teaching. The student struggled with solving equations in general and especially with distribution and knowing how to distribute terms and what steps to take…

The researchers conducted a microanalysis of two purposefully sampled sessions of a tutor working with a student with a learning disability (LD) engaging with multi-step equations with and without fractions. During the tutoring sessions, the student experienced quick, independent success on equations without fractions, but struggled considerably…

In this exploratory case study, the researchers conducted a descriptive, qualitative microanalysis of the tutoring of two eighth grade students with learning disabilities while solving algebra problems. The researchers analyzed the participants' problem solving tendencies and interventions that helped the students succeed. One of the students,…

There is an ongoing need to support students' learning of linear functions, and the study of slope makes up a foundational component of this learning. We applied techniques from systemic functional linguistics to document the meanings that were established through spoken interaction between a student and her tutors during discussions of slope. We…

In this exploratory case study, the researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of six teaching sessions to describe the use of gestures and diagrams by a teacher and her students with learning disabilities when engaging in secondary level algebra (e.g., Algebra I & II content). The teacher and her students used gestures, such as pointing and…

In the United States, students with mild intellectual disability (MID) are expected to access the general education curriculum and some of these students are required to pass the same high-stakes exams as students without disabilities. Research supports that students with MID can demonstrate success with mathematics after receiving interventions…

Students with learning disabilities identify teachers' understanding of them as learners as crucial for their empowerment and success in school. This study provides insight into how the analysis of students' academic and social situational tendencies can provide teachers with better understanding of their students' educational experiences and lead…

The researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of the perceptions of school personnel and pre-service teachers about an Algebra I tutoring program for students with learning disabilities. The researchers surveyed and interviewed the participants about the effectiveness of the program for the mathematics learning of the students with LD at the…

We applied techniques from systemic functional linguistics to examine how a student and a tutor construed meaning related to linear functions during a 1-1 tutoring session. The student and tutor varied in how they discussed rates of change. This difference highlights that there are multiple correct ways to use this term in algebra, although small…

The researchers conducted an exploratory qualitative case study to describe the gesturing processes of tutors and students when engaging in secondary mathematics. The use of gestures ranged in complexity from simple gestures, such as pointing and moving the pointing finger in an arching motion to demonstrate mathematics relationships within…