Practitioner Perceptions of Algebra Strategy and Intervention Use to Support Students With Mathematics Difficulty or Disability in Rural Texas

Abstract

Students with mathematics difficulties and disabilities require evidence-based instructional strategies and interventions to improve their mathematical performance. Dissemination of these practices to teachers in rural settings presents specific challenges, including lack of Internet access, few discretionary resources, and geographic isolation. This mixed-method study explored rural Texas teachers’ perceptions of their algebra content knowledge; their comfort with strategies, interventions, and resources; and professional development experiences related to students with mathematics difficulties and disabilities. Findings suggest that teachers are unfamiliar with or do not regularly implement evidence-based strategies and report regular use of strategies such as learning styles that have a limited evidence base. A discussion of findings includes suggestions for professional development tailored to the needs of rural Texas algebra teachers.

Keywords

rural special education professional development mathematics algebra intervention

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abell

Collins

B. C.

Kleinert

Pennington

(2014). Providing support for rural teachers of students with low incidence disabilities who are completing the Kentucky teacher internship program. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 33(3), 14–18.

Arthaud

T. J.

Aram

R. J.

Breck

S. E.

Doelling

J. E.

Bushrow

K. M.

(2007). Developing collaboration skills in pre-service teachers: A partnership between general and special education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 30, 1–12.

Berry

A. B.

(2012). The relationship of perceived support to satisfaction and commitment for special education teachers in rural areas. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 31, 3–14.

Boyer

(2006). Building communities reforming math and science education in rural schools: A report on the National Science Foundation’s rural systemic initiative. Retrieved from http://ankn.uaf.edu/publications/building_community.pdf

Brantlinger

Jimenez

Klingner

Pugach

Richardson

(2005). Qualitative studies in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 195–207. doi:10.1177/001440290507100205

Canter

L. L. S.

Voytecki

K. S.

Rodríguez

(2007). Increasing online interaction in rural special education teacher preparation programs. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 26, 23–27.

Carlson

Hott

B. L.

(2017, October). Texas students with learning disabilities access to advanced mathematics courses. Paper presented at the International Council for Learning Disabilities Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Chen

Hall

T. R.

Jackson

C. A.

Liu

Morin

Sargent

O. T.

Steere

V. S.

(2014). Postsecondary completion in rural Texas: A statewide overview. College Station, TX: The Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Clayton

M. J.

(1997). Delphi: A technique to harness expert opinion for critical decision-making tasks in education. Educational Psychology, 17, 373–386. doi:10.1080/0144341970170401

10.

Cole

J. E.

Wasburn-Moses

L. H.

(2010). Going beyond “The Math Wars” a special educator’s guide to understanding and assisting with inquiry-based teaching in mathematics. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 42(4), 14–20.

11.

Cook

B. G.

Odom

S. L.

(2013). Evidence-based practices and implementation science in special education. Exceptional Children, 79, 135–144. doi:10.1177/001440291307900201

12.

Creswell

J. W.

(2011). Controversies in mixed methods research. In Denzin

N. K.

Lincoln

Y. S.

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed., pp. 269–284). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

13.

Creswell

J. W.

Plano-Clark

V. L.

(2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

14.

Dennis

M. S.

Bryant

B. R.

Drogan

(2015). The impact of tier 2 mathematics instruction on second graders with mathematics difficulties. Exceptionality, 23, 124–145.

15.

Durlak

J. A.

Weissberg

R. P.

Dymnicki

A. B.

Taylor

R. D.

Schellinger

K. B.

(2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82, 405–432. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

16.

Evans

Williams

J. B.

King

Metcalf

(2010). Modeling, guided instruction, and application of UDL in a rural special education teacher preparation program. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 29(4), 41–48.

17.

Feinberg

Nuijens

Canter

(2005). Workload vs. caseload: There’s more to school psychology than numbers. NASP Communiqué, 33.

18.

Fuchs

L. S.

Fuchs

Powell

S. R.

Seethaler

P. M.

Cirino

P. T.

Fletcher

J. M.

(2008). Intensive intervention for students with mathematics disabilities: Seven principles of effective practice. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31, 79–92.

19.

Geary

D. C.

(2004). Mathematics and learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 4–15.

20.

Gersten

Chard

D. J.

Jayanthi

Baker

S. K.

Morphy

Flojo

(2009). Mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of instructional components. Review of Educational Research, 79, 1202–1242. doi:10.1177/0034654309334431

21.

Graham

S. E.

Provost

L. E.

(2012). Mathematics achievement gaps between suburban students and their rural and urban peers increase over time. Carsey Institute. Retrieved from http://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1171&context=carsey

22.

Jitendra

A. K.

Lein

A. E.

S. H.

Alghamdi

A. A.

Hefte

S. B.

Mouanoutoua

(2017). Mathematical interventions for secondary students with learning disabilities and mathematics difficulties: A meta-analysis. Exceptional Children, 64, 21–43. doi:10.1177/0014402917737467

23.

Klingner

J. K.

Boardman

A. G.

McMaster

K. L.

(2013). What does it take to scale-up and sustain evidence-based practices? Exceptional Children, 79, 195–211. doi:10.1177/001440291307900205

24.

Landrum

T. L.

Landrum

M. K.

(2014). DLD current practice alerts: Learning styles. Retrieved from http://s3.amazonaws.com/cmi-teaching-ld/alerts/24/uploaded_files/original_DLD_Alert21_LearningStyles.pdf?1404680392

25.

Lawless

K. A.

Pellegrino

J. W.

(2007). Professional development in integrating technology into teaching and learning: Knowns, unknowns, and ways to pursue better questions and answers. Review of Educational Research, 77, 575–614.

26.

Ludlow

B. L.

(2015). Virtual reality: Emerging applications and future directions. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 34(3), 3–10.

27.

Maheady

Magiera

Simmons

(2016). Building and sustaining school-university partnerships in rural settings: One approach for improving special education service delivery. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 35(2), 33–40.

28.

McConnell

T. J.

Parker

J. M.

Eberhardt

Koehler

M. J.

Lundeberg

M. A.

(2013). Virtual professional learning communities: Teachers’ perceptions of virtual versus face-to-face professional development. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 22, 267–277.

29.

Moore

C. M.

(1987). Group techniques for idea building. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

30.

National Mathematics Advisory Panel. (2008). Foundations for success: The final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

31.

Patton

M. Q.

(2005). Qualitative research. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

32.

Pemberton

J. B.

Cereijo

M. V. P.

Tyler-Wood

Rademacher

(2004). Desktop videoconferencing: Examples of applications to support teacher training in rural areas. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 23(2), 3–8.

33.

Rakes

C. R.

Valentine

J. C.

McGatha

M. B.

Ronau

R. N.

(2010). Methods of instructional improvement in algebra: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80, 372–400. doi:10.3102/0034654310374880

34.

Rock

M. L.

Schumacker

Gregg

Gable

R. A.

Zigmond

N. P.

Howard

(2014). How are they now? Longer term effects of eCoaching through online bug-in-ear technology. Teacher Education and Special Education, 37, 159–179. doi:10.1177/0888406414525048

35.

Star

J. R.

Caronongan

Foegen

Furgeson

Keating

Larson

M. R.

Zbiek

R. M.

(2015). Teaching strategies for improving algebra knowledge in middle and high school students (NCEE 2014-4333). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Available from http://whatworks.ed.gov

36.

Strickland

T. K.

Maccini

(2010). Strategies for teaching algebra to students with learning disabilities: Making research to practice connections. Intervention in School and Clinic, 46, 38–45. doi:10.1177/1053451210369519

37.

Sullivan

Barkowski

Lindsay

Lazarev

Nguyen

Newman

Lin

(2017). Trends in teacher mobility in Texas and associations with teacher, student, and school characteristics (REL 2018–283). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest.

38.

Sundeen

T. H.

Sundeen

D. M.

(2013). Instructional technology for rural schools: Access and acquisition. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 32(2), 8–14.

39.

Texas Education Agency. (2017a). Enrollment in Texas public schools, 2016-17. (Document No. GE17 601 12). Austin: Author.

40.

Texas Education Agency. (2017b). State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness: Summary report—Algebra 1. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/Student_Testing_and_Accountability/Testing/State_of_Texas_Assessments_of_Academic_Readiness_(STAAR)/STAAR_Statewide_Summary_Reports_2016-2017/

41.

Vaughn

Bos

C. S.

(2015). Strategies for teaching students with learning and behavior problems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

42.

Vaughn

Klingner

Hughes

(2000). Sustainability of research-based practices. Exceptional Children, 66, 163–171. doi:10.1177/001440290006600202

43.

West

Jones

(2007). A framework for planning technology used in teacher education programs that serve rural communities. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 26(4), 3–15.

44.

Willingham

D. T.

(2005). Do visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners need visual, auditory, and kinesthetic instruction? American Educator, 29, 31–35.

45.

Wiseman

Bailie

Gourgey

(2015). Pathways of promise: Student outcomes in career and technical education pathways in central Texas. Austin, TX: E3 Alliance.

46.

Zheng

Flynn

L. J.

Swanson

H. L.

(2013). Experimental intervention studies on word problem solving and math disabilities: A selective analysis of the literature. Learning Disability Quarterly, 36, 97–111. doi:10.1177/0731948712444277