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Does Early Algebraic Reasoning Differ as a Function of Students’ Difficulty with Calculations versus Word Problems?
Author(s) -
Powell Sarah R.,
Fuchs Lynn S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
learning disabilities research and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.018
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1540-5826
pISSN - 0938-8982
DOI - 10.1111/ldrp.12037
Subject(s) - word problem (mathematics education) , word (group theory) , mathematics education , variance (accounting) , algebraic number , function (biology) , psychology , algebra over a field , learning disability , mathematics , pure mathematics , developmental psychology , mathematical analysis , geometry , accounting , evolutionary biology , business , biology
According to national mathematics standards, algebra instruction should begin at kindergarten and continue through elementary school. Most often, teachers address algebra in the elementary grades with problems related to solving equations or understanding functions. With 789 second‐grade students, we administered: (1) measures of calculations and word problems in the fall and (2) an assessment of prealgebraic reasoning, with items that assessed solving equations and functions, in the spring. Based on the calculation and word‐problem measures, we placed 148 students into one of four difficulty status categories: typically performing, calculation difficulty, word‐problem difficulty, or difficulty with calculations and word problems. Analyses of variance were conducted on the 148 students; path analytic mediation analyses were conducted on the larger sample of 789 students. Across analyses, results corroborated the finding that word‐problem difficulty is more strongly associated with difficulty with prealgebraic reasoning. As an indicator of later algebra difficulty, word‐problem difficulty may be a more useful predictor than calculation difficulty, and students with word‐problem difficulty may require a different level of algebraic reasoning intervention than students with calculation difficulty.