Web based math practice for students with disabilities

The purpose of this research study was to determine if there would be a positive impact on test scores when students with disabilities practice math skills using a computer program that provided immediate feedback. While developing teaching strategies to meet the needs of all students is important, this research focused on the needs of students identified as having a disability and receiving special education services. Strategies that will help close the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their general education peers is a primary interest of the researcher. It is imperative that strategies that will help students understand and retain mathematics skills and knowledge be identified and implemented for student achievement to improve. It is just as important that ineffective strategies be identified and discarded so that student learning time is spent implementing strategies that are most valuable in increasing student learning. The focus of this study was to gather evidence to determine if the use of a computer program may be an effective strategy in developing and retaining mathematical knowledge and skills for students with disabilities. Web Based Math Practice for Students With Disabilities 8 The program selected for this study was IXL (Quia Corporation, 2010), a web based program that provides students with practice problems for specific math skills. It was selected for several reasons. First, the program provides immediate feedback for the student. Second, the program does not include games which other research has indicated distract the student from focusing on the mathematics. Third, the structure of the program allows for students to work at their current instructional level. Lastly, the program allows the teacher to see how much time students spend actually working on practice problems, the number of problems each student completes, the content the student has practiced, and the percentage of practiced problems the student got correct