Teaching Algebra to Students with Learning Difficulties: An Investigation of an Explicit Instruction Model

Thirty–four matched pairs of sixth– and seventh–grade students were selected from 358 participants in a comparison of an explicit concrete–to–representational–to–abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction with traditional instruction for teaching algebraic transformation equations. Each pair of students had been previously labeled with a specific learning disability or as at risk for difficulties in algebra. Students were matched according to achievement score, age, pretest score, and class performance. The same math teacher taught both members of each matched pair, but in different classes. All students were taught in inclusive settings under the instruction of a middle school mathematics teacher. Results indicated that students who learned how to solve algebra transformation equations through CRA outperformed peers receiving traditional instruction on both postinstruction and follow–up tests. Additionally, error pattern analysis indicated that students who used the CRA sequence of instruction performed fewer procedural errors when solving for variables.