High school students in mathematics difficulties : Students´ perspective regarding support efforts and possibilities to prevent mathematics difficulties

The purpose of the study was to increase knowledge about high school students' perspective on the school's support efforts in mathematics teaching. Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecology model was used as the theoretical framework for the design of the interview guide and result analysis. The study has a qualitative approach and the empirical evidence was collected through semi-structured interviews with ten high school students in the high school's university preparatory program at four different schools. The selection of informants was made based on the students' self-perceived experiences of mathematics difficulties. After transcribing the audio files, the material was analyzed in its entirety using thematic content analysis. The result showed that additional adaptations in mathematics teaching to a greater extent need to meet the students' actual needs. The students in the study preferred a mathematics support in teaching, such as two teachers in the classroom instead of a support outside teaching. To prevent mathematics difficulties, the teaching needs to involve the students in different ways during the lessons, be interesting and understandable according to the study's informants. The language in mathematics could create barriers to accessibility, a factor which can be understood on both a micro and exo level. Several students highlighted the potential of the digital resources for mathematics and how these can be used as supplementary support. Finally, problems at the meso level need attention and transitions both between junior high and high school as well as between high schools need to be ensured regarding the students' need for additional adaptations and knowledge development in mathematics