Mathematics Intervention for College Students with Learning Disabilities: A Pilot Study Targeting Rate of Change

Research on mathematics interventions for college students with learning disabilities (LD) is sparse, yet mathematics is critical for post-secondary success. Prior research indicates that many effective strategies for teaching mathematics to secondary students with LD (e.g., manipulatives and cognitive strategies) can also improve the mathematics performance of college students with LD. In this article, we summarize mathematics intervention research conducted with college students with LD, and report the findings of a pilot single-case design intervention implemented with one college student with LD, Ada. Results indicate that Ada made improvements in solving rate of change word problems following participation in a six-week intervention that incorporated an integrated Concrete-Representational-Abstract framework and a problem-solving heuristic (POD). Effect sizes were largest for the specific outcome of calculating the correct answer. These results provide initial directions for future research and practice to improve the mathematics performance of college students with LD