An investigation of teachers\u27 knowledge about students with learning disabilities in Jordan and their teaching strategies during mathematics instruction

The purpose for conducting this study was to investigate Jordanian mathematics teachers\u27 knowledge of learning disabilities and what strategies they used to teach students with suspected learning disabilities. Both teacher\u27s knowledge and their strategies during mathematics instruction were examined by use of a survey instrument. A stratified random sample was used to select 426 mathematics teachers in Jordan. The total number of schools included in this study was 309 (148 boys\u27 schools and 161 girls\u27 schools). All mathematics teachers (426) who taught in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 in selected schools were asked to participate in the study. A total of 417 surveys were returned, for a return rate of 97.8 percent. Of the 417 mathematics teachers who responded to the survey, 51 (12.2%) identified the student as having a suspected learning disability, based on the information provided in the case study. As a whole, respondents thought the workshops held by the Ministry of Education were the professional experiences that contributed most to teachers\u27 knowledge of how to instruct students with severe problems in mathematics. The results of a MANOVA analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups of respondents (those who did and those who did not identify the student as having a suspected leaming disability) for the five dependent variables (behavioral, direct instruction, cognitive, alternative, and individualized instruction strategies) ($p\ \u3e\ .05$, multivariate F =.723). The Wilks test value was.986. Teachers who identified the student as having a suspected learning disability in mathematics rated reinforcing correct answers as the most important strategy for teaching mathematics. Fourteen of the 15 mathematics strategies had means ranging between some and great in importance. The least-valued strategy was using computer-assisted instruction. The chi-square analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the two variables (teachers\u27 gender and students\u27 gender) (chi-square = 1.303, $p\ \u3e\ .05$). Results of a stepwise regression indicated that none of the independent variables (teachers\u27 gender, years of experience, professional training, and class size) explained the variance in the teachers\u27 ability to identify students with learning disabilities in mathematics