Reading Comprehension Issues Can Negatively Impact Math Performance

Within mathematics instruction, strategies for solving basic operations are strong and systemic. However, students in the intermediate grades struggle with finding and using reliable strategies for solving word problems. The complexity of language that’s used in a mathematical context makes it difficult for students to have a confident approach. Therefore, action research is being conducted on how reading comprehension can be dove-tailed with word-problem-solving in an elementary classroom. Action research will be used to make a positive change in the

Students who read on a regular basis are more likely to comprehend the difficult questions on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT. This is because the more a student reads daily, then they are more likely to recognize the antiquated words and complex passages found in literature. Lana Winter-Herbert suggests in her article “10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day” that daily readers are exposed to more words that will “inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary.” This expansion of vocabulary can transform an

According to Table 1.2, the following categories fell within close range to the mean: number sense, attends to print, basic reading, articulation, communication (receptive), matching, pre-writing, colors, and shapes. It is evident through this data analysis that most students are at the emerging stage of ability levels, implicating that they require some level of prompting to ensure they produce a correct response. It is concluded that students require continued instruction with addition, reading, and working independently are skills that require continued instruction. Division, multiplication, graphing, and telling time were areas that all students found to be the most challenging, thus these findings confirmed my original assumptions,

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics stated that “Because mathematics is so often conveyed in symbols, oral and written communication about mathematical ideas is not always recognized as an important part of mathematics education” (2000). Teachers must help students through the process of communication that includes reading skills such as text interpretation and vocabulary acquisition. The purpose of this literature review is to determine the types of effective reading strategies to implement within a middle school mathematics classroom. This research hopes to answer the following questions: 1.)What are current reading strategies used in the mathematics classroom? And 2.)How do reading strategies affect student achievement in math?

The research in this paper is to discuss strategies used to teach students with severe disabilities in mathematics. “According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, (AAIDD) Intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. The diagnoses of the disability should come before the age of 18 (Westling, Fox, & Carter, 2015).” Mathematics is a core subject area that can pose a challenge for a large amount of students in America, and especially those with severe disabilities. “According to a study, only a quarter of students with disabilities that

Rivera-Batiz (1992) stated, “Mathematical achievement of individuals strongly predicts their success later in life.” Watson & Gable (2012) mention that basic academic skill are fundamental to long-term academic success and, on a post-secondary level obtaining employment in a highly competitive job market.” National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS-2); ( Newman, et al., 2011) stated that more than three quarters of youth with disabilities test below the mean. Far less information is attainable on mathematics than reading instruction (Gregoire’ & Desoete, 2009). The same report mentioned that 45% of students with disabilities compared to 25% of their typical peers complete a below standard curriculum. What makes mathematics a strong

As the United States falls farther behind on education tests in math reading and science, there has been a push for a redesign of the education system. Of the 64 countries tested in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012, 19 other industrialized countries ranked ahead of the United States (United States, n.d.). Because of these results and the stagnating American education, parents, teachers, and the government are pushing even more standards for math, reading, and science even more. To try to resolve from the problem from its root means that there needs to be a change in how reading is taught. By improving the reading skills of students, it has the potential to promote higher success in other subjects like

While Heather’s oral language is appropriate when she is engaged in a conversation and when she’s listening to a text being read to her, her understanding of what she reads is affected by her inability to analyze words. Hence, this is the reason why she would have difficulties with the component “reading ability for word problems”. For example, if she

Digging through the recycling bin of the math supervisor's office, I pull out an old piece of paper with typed font on one side, and blankness on the other -- perfect. “Mom,” I say, looking up with my four-year old eyes, “Do you have a pencil?” She goes into her purse to retrieve one, eager to see what simple drawing I could create as we waited for my dad (who was a math teacher at the time) to come out of his meeting. However, as she is searching, I waddle right up to the bookshelf and pursue my options. A vast array of different grade-level textbooks were laid out before me; the third-grade option seemed most suitable. I took my pencil, the book, and the paper, and sat sat down at the table to see what I could make of the advanced problems.

On the other study conducted by Waldron, the results show that children with learning disabilities did poor on math compared to children without learning disabilities. Programs to help children with learning disabilities improve in math should be enforce in every school to help these children succeed. The dropout rate on children with learning disabilities was 14.1 percent on a longitudinal study conducted by Doren. The reason for dropouts was that children with learning disabilities felt they were not compatible academically as children without learning disabilities. They felt disadvantaged compared to the other children. This shows that children with learning disabilities are in greater danger to dropping out of school. Programs designated for children with learning disabilities to help them on their reading, math, and writing would drop the rate and help those students graduate

Special Education services often focus on improving students’ reading disabilities; however, in “Math Learning Disabilities,” Kate Garnett (1998) argued that math deficits should be given an equal amount of attention. She described five different types of math difficulties and some possible steps in supporting students who manifest these disabilities in mathematics (Garnett, 1998, p. 1). First, Garnett (1998) explained that some students have a deficiency with mastering basic number facts. One teaching approach that Garnett (1998) promoted is that instructors should provide “interactive and intensive practice with motivational materials such as games” (p. 2). The next math disability that Garnett (1998) found is arithmetic weakness/math talent. Garnett (1998) noted that this deficiency is when a student can grasp mathematical concepts but struggles with calculating. In order to support learning-disabled math students with this math difficulty, Garnett (1998) suggested that teachers should be persistent in their work to strengthen students’ inconsistent skills (p. 3). On this same page, Garnett (1998) recognized a third mathematical deficiency that learning disabled (LD) students may experience which is with the written symbol system and concrete materials. Garnett (1998) explained that students with this mathematical difficulty have a hard time making the connections between the procedural and informal math understanding (p. 3).

In David Elkind’s article “Knowing is Not Understanding”. The article talks about how many teachers and parents use programs and products to teach children how to read and to do math. Unfortunately, “Most authors of these programs lack academic credentials and offer little or no research to support their claims about math and reading teaching and learning” (Elkind 1). Elkind explains how most of these programs are not really teaching our children anything and how it

Within mathematics instruction, strategies for solving basic operations are strong and systemic. However, students in the intermediate grades struggle with finding and using reliable strategies for solving word problems. The complexity of language that’s used in a mathematical context makes it difficult for students to have a confident approach. Therefore, research is being conducted on how reading comprehension can be dove-tailed with word-problem-solving in an elementary classroom.

The failure of students being able to read and comprehend what they are reading is a great concern for most schools. When students enter the fifth grade and are not on grade level, they are already behind their classmates. Teachers are then responsible for remediating the students to get them on grade level. Unfortunately, these same students are unable to keep up with on grade level standards teachers are required to teach, because they lack the skills needed. These students will continue to struggle throughout their education because they will not be able to catch up to their grade level. Many educators have realized there is a gap between fluency and comprehension. Because of this realization, special instruction such as guided reading and remedial teaching has been implemented.

When data from students who had average accuracy and fluency scores, but lower comprehension scores were compared to data from those with similar accuracy and fluency but average comprehension, the consistent differences were found to be lower oral language and vocabulary skills in the poor comprehenders upon entry into formal schooling. (Nation, Cocksey, Taylor & Bishop) Thousands of dollars each year are spent on intervention, trying to improve the reading of children that show delays. When one reads, the clear goal is comprehension of what is read. Without communication of ideas between the author and reader, decoding texts is pointless. Most intervention programs are focused on phonics and word decoding. Oral language interventions concurrent with vocabulary and comprehension tasks at age eight have been shown to lead to significant improvements in reading comprehension. (Nation, et al., 2010). Reading comprehension is not merely a product of being able to decode words and sentences. How we teach children to process and integrate the ideas found in text can have a large impact on their ability to function in a world of ever expanding knowledge and information.