Abstract
In Learning Disability Quarterly (LDQ) 39.4, the first articles of a special series titled Cross-Disciplinary Thematic Special Series: Special Education and Mathematics Education were published. The intent of the special series is to address some of the challenges mathematics educators and special educators encounter as they collectively work to meet the needs of students who struggle when learning mathematics concepts and skills.
In this issue of LDQ, we provide the next contribution to the special series, which is authored by Yan Ping Xin, Ron Tzur, Casey Hord, Jia Liu, Joo Young Park, and Luo Si. An Intelligent Tutor-Assisted Mathematics Intervention Program for Students With Learning Difficulties discusses how student expectations of mathematical understanding have increased as a result of the Common Core Mathematics Standards. More specifically, their paper investigates the effects of one computer assisted instruction (CAI) program, Please Go Bring Me - Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving (PGBM-COMPS), an intelligent tutor program designed to enhance the multiplicative problem-solving skills of students who struggle learning these skills. Their findings provide useful information for mathematics and special educators who collaborate and work with struggling students. The final papers of this special series will be published in an upcoming LDQ issue.
The remaining articles in this issue focus on other topics of interest. In the second article, Melodee A. Walker and Elizabeth A. Stevens present Reading Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities: An Observation Study Synthesis (1980-2014), which is a synthesis of 25 studies conducted over a 35-year period that builds upon previous syntheses by analyzing trends and gaps in reading research. Their findings provide interesting information about how instruction has changed over time, due in part to legislative and organizational reform efforts.
In the third article, Samantha Marita and Casey Hord present an article titled Review of Mathematics Interventions for Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities. This paper represents a comprehensive review of practices that educators should consider when teaching secondary students with mathematics disabilities.
In the fourth paper, Melissa K. Driver and Sarah R. Powell discuss challenges faced by English Language Learners (ELLs) as they receive and respond to instruction on word problem solving. Their paper titled Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Schema Intervention: Improving Word Problem Solving for English Language Learners With Mathematics Difficulty investigates wordproblem instruction for ELLs in an elementary school. Their findings provide information for educators who work with ELLs who struggle learning mathematics skills and concepts.
The final article by Brittany Hott, Sheri Berkeley, Ambre Fairfield, and Nelly Shora, is titled, Intervention in School and Clinic: An Analysis of 25 Years of Guidance for Practitioners. LDQ has long been the official publication of the Council for Learning Disabilities as is Intervention in School and Clinic (ISC). Hott and her colleagues explore the research-to-practice gap in special education and how practitioner-oriented journals such as ISC help bridge that gap. Their work reviews 925 articles published in ISC from 1990 to 2014, and shows that well over half of the papers focused on information related to students with learning disability (LD) or other related disabilities. As always, we hope that the articles presented in the current issue will stimulate discussion and thoughtful reflection on how best to meet the needs of individuals with LD.