The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the implementation of a researcher-created numberless word problem instructional unit designed to introduce second-grade students to word problems in the semantic category of "compare with the word more, smaller unknown." The 10-day instructional unit incorporated three elements:…

Learning mathematics involves abstract thinking and the use of symbols. To be successful in a mathematics classroom, students must master what symbols mean and how they work. Much prior work has focused on the nature of the external representations used in mathematics instruction, including manipulatives and symbolic representations. In this work,…

The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the impact of English language learner (ELL) instructional extension strategies on African American K-2nd grade students with low-literacy proficiency. DIBELSO 8th edition literacy assessment for K-2nd grade was used to determine literacy proficiency during the study. The study included 74…

Low reading skills constitute a serious achievement problem. Although there are remedial support in schools, between 2% and 6% of the student population continues to show persistent reading difficulties despite intensive intervention. The research problem in this study addressed the lack of effective reading interventions for students who were in…

The impacts of a summer reading program on students' reading fluency were assessed. Fifteen students in grades first through seventh voluntarily attended a nine-day summer reading program. Participants who attended the program were a good representation of the other students in the school. The school was selected due to the high percentage of…

The study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the HELPS-SG curriculum and a small group repeated reading (RR) intervention on oral reading fluency and comprehension. The participants of this study were 42 second-grade ELL's who attended an elementary school in the southwestern United States. The participants were either a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of small group vocabulary instruction above and beyond whole group, read aloud vocabulary instruction, on second grade students' expressive vocabularies. This experimental study reflected a between-subjects design as three treatment groups were compared using a pretest, posttest within…

In 2010, 6% of students in the United States were performing at an advanced level in mathematics. During the previous year, the United States produced over 987,000 low math achievers. The theoretical foundations of this research project study were found in Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). The research problem addressed in this study is the…

The need for research on the effectiveness of a blended style of instruction is vital when considering the need for students to gain a lasting understanding of real-world knowledge and the need for teachers to address all state standards in preparation for their students to pass achievement tests. The purposes of this study were to determine the…

Differentiated instruction has become a trend in education across the country as a way of addressing the needs of all students. In this study, data were analyzed from a research site that used differentiated instruction in math as a way of raising performance within a small sampling of second grade students. The success of the intervention…

Understanding the linear relationship of numbers is essential for doing practical and abstract mathematics throughout education and everyday life. There is evidence that number line activities increase learners' number sense, improving the linearity of mental number line representations (Siegler & Ramani, 2009). Mental representations of…

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in mathematics can typically experience long-lasting problems when developing fluency with basic math facts despite the use of evidence-based practices. One recently developed intervention to promote memorization and fact-fluency is Mastering Math Facts (MMF). MMF is a commercially-available…

Over several years, second grade parents have expressed concerns about not understanding the curriculum in the area of phonetic coding. The purpose of this study was to give second grade parents the skills they lacked in understanding phonetic coding so they could better help their children with homework and thus see if a significant difference in…

Low mathematics achievement is a concern of educators and the general public because many Americans are emerging from school without the requisite mathematics skills to function well in our complex, quickly changing society. Individuals with low math abilities are more likely to be unemployed and be a burden to fellow taxpayers. Educators and…

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how virtual manipulatives, designed to provide multimodal interactions, support richer perceptual experiences that promote conceptual learning. To study this phenomenon, a virtual manipulative called, "Puzzle Blocks," was developed by the researcher. "Puzzle Blocks" introduces the…