Teaching to the Standards: Math
A Literacy-Based Approach for Students with
Moderate and Severe Disabilities
by Katherine Trela, PhD, Bree Jimenez, MS
& Diane Browder, PhD
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Why Teach Math?
• Math Around Us
• Historically taught Daily
Living Skills in Real-Life
Applications
• IDEA (2004) and NCLB
(2001)– increased
expectations
NCLB
• Target might be alternate achievement in
some states (extended standards)
• Teams determine what the student will learn
and how to teach it
What Makes Math Difficult
for Some Students
• Communication challenges
– Math requires reading, writing, discussing
• Strategy deficiencies
– Not being able to perform basic operations
• Lack of past instruction
– Focus only on functional math like money
• Memory challenges
– Math facts, math concepts
Solution:
Collaborate with Those Who Know
• Collaborate with math and science teachers
• Study state and national web sites on
curriculum content
• Review standards for grade level
• Review textbooks
• Attend professional development in the
content area
What to Teach?
Teaching to the Standard:
Promoting the learning of math skills that link
to the standards of the student’s assigned
grade level
Which Standards?
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(NCTM)
• Numbers and operations
• Measurement
• Data analysis and probability
• Geometry
• Algebra
Full Inclusion (IDEA) and Access to the
Curriculum (NCLB)
• General educator guides what is taught
• Special educator guides how to support access
to that instruction
Collaboration Is Key
Browder, D., Spooner, F., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Harris, A., & Wakeman, S. (in press). A
comprehensive review of research to teach math to students with significant cognitive
disabilities. Exceptional Children.
Evidence-Based Procedures
•
•
•
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Systematic instruction
Task analysis
Application in real-life settings
Concrete materials (graphic organizers and
manipulatives) to bridge to abstract concepts
Template for Teaching to
Math Standards
Determine the Content with General Educators
Task Analysis
Analyze the steps to solve the math problem
Story
Write a story for the math problem
Concrete Manipulatives
Create a “graphic organizer” and/or other manipulatives
to learn the math operation
• Assistive Technology
Develop student response board or select AAC device
to ensure student participation
• Teach and Monitor Progress
Teach the task analysis using systematic prompting and
feedback until student masters
Math Lessons
• Five Lesson Plans per unit
• 2 stories per lesson
• Same task analysis but different levels of
support
• 6 Enrichment Challenges per unit
• Monitoring Progress page
Standard
Broaden Use of the Coordinate Plane
Expand Spatial Reasoning
Algebra Standard
Perform operations with numbers and
expressions to solve problems
Use formulas and algebraic expressions to
model and solve problems
(learn to use symbols and that X is an unknown)
Data Analysis Standard
 Understand and use graphs and data to solve
problems
 Use representations to model and interpret
physical, social, and mathematical phenomena
Measurement Standard
 Perform operations with numbers and
expressions to solve problems
Challenge Activities
• Includes extension activities for more learning
to create opportunities for students to use the
new skills in their lives
Monitoring Progress
Key Features
• Designed specifically for students with mod to
severe disabilities at middle to high school
level
• Accommodates students who are verbal or
nonverbal
• Embeds evidence-based practices
• Uses stories to make connection between
math and real life
• Teach in gen ed or in resource room
Teaching to Standards: Math
Examples for middle and high school concepts
Teach all or some
One year to complete in pilot study (students
with autism and mod and severe intellectual
disabilities )
Teaching to Standards: Math
For the Instructor
Instructors Guide
Story Map Posters (11)
CD-ROM with PDFs for creating manipulatives
Training DVD
For the Students
MathWork book
Counting chips
Dollar bills