Adding It Up

A survey design was adopted in this study. Three senior high schools were randomly chosen for this study. Thirty (30) mathematics tutors and 100 learners were involved in the study. The Purpose of the study is to find out the factors that affect the actual teaching and learning of mathematics in senior high schools. To achieve this, three major questions were answered: (1) What quality teachers are teaching mathematics in our senior High schools? (2) What feelings do senior High School students display regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics? (3) What issues affect the efficient utilization of available instructional resources in the teaching of mathematics at the senior high schools? Questionnaire were used to collect data for the study. The results of the study showed that inadequate teaching and learning resources and quality tutors are some of the factors affecting the effective instruction and learning in mathematics the classroom at SHS level. From the results, the following were recommended; interactive methods of teaching mathematical concepts need to be used by mathematics teachers. In addition, stakeholders need to provide adequate teaching and learning resource to the various senior high schools.

Fractions are foundational concepts for more advanced mathematics as well as used throughout daily living, for all students, including students with disabilities. This study explored the virtual-abstract (VA) instructional sequence with regard to the acquisition and maintenance of fraction behaviors for three middle school students with mild intellectual disability and/or autism. Through a multiple probe across participants design, students received a minimum of three sessions using the app-based manipulative (i.e., virtual portion of the VA instructional sequence) and a minimum of five sessions using numerical strategies (i.e., abstract portion of the VA instructional sequence). A functional relation was found between the independent variable–the VA instructional sequence—and the dependent variable (i.e., accuracy in finding equivalent fractions or adding fractions with unlike denominators, depending on the student).

Community participation has been defined as performing daytime activities by people while interacting with others. Previous studies on community participation among people with intellectual disability (ID) have mainly focused on the domestic life aspect. This study investigates the variation in community participation in the domains work, social contacts and leisure activities among people with ID in the Netherlands. A number of categories of people with ID were distinguished by: (1) gender; (2) age; (3) type of education; (4) severity of ID; and (5) accommodation type. Data were gathered on 653 people with mild or moderate ID, of whom 513 by oral interviews and 140 by structured questionnaires filled in by representatives of those who could not be interviewed. Pearson chi-square tests were used to test differences between categories of people with ID in the distributions of the participation variables. Additional logistic regression analyses were conducted to correct for differences between the categories in other variables. Most people with mild or moderate ID in the Netherlands have work or other daytime activities, have social contacts and have leisure activities. However, people aged 50 years and over and people with moderate ID participate less in these domains than those under 50 years and people with mild ID. Moreover, people with ID hardly participate in activities with people without ID. High participation among people with a mild or moderate ID within the domains of work, social contact and leisure activities does not necessarily indicate a high level of interaction with the community, because the majority hardly interact with people without ID. Furthermore, older people with ID and people with a more severe level of ID seem to be more at risk for social exclusion.

Little is known about the associations between mild intellectual disability (MID), borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) and aggressive behaviour in general mental health care. The study aims to establish the association between aggressive behaviour and MID/BIF, analysing patient characteristics and diagnoses. 1174 out of 1565 consecutive in-and outpatients were screened for MID/BIF with the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) in general mental health care in The Netherlands. During treatment, aggressive behaviour was assessed with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R). We calculated odds ratios and performed a logistic and poisson regression to calculate the associations of MID/ BIF, patient characteristics and diagnoses with the probability of aggression. Forty-one percent of participating patients were screened positive for MID/BIF. Patients with assumed MID/BIF showed significantly more aggression at the patient and sample level (odds ratio (OR) of 2.50 for aggression and 2.52 for engaging in outwardly directed physical aggression). The proportion of patients engaging in 2-5 repeated aggression incidents was higher in assumed MID (OR = 3.01, 95% CI 1.82-4.95) and MID/BIF (OR = 4.20, 95% CI 2.45-7.22). Logistic regression showed that patients who screened positive for BIF (OR 2,0 95% CL 1.26-3.17), MID (OR 2.89, 95% CI 1.87-4.46), had a bipolar disorder (OR 3.07, 95% CI 1.79-5.28), schizophrenia (OR 2.75, 95% CI 1.80-4.19), and younger age (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.15-2.50), were more likely to have engaged in any aggression. Poisson regression underlined these findings, showing a SCIL of 15 and below (β = 0.61, p<0.001) was related to more incidents. We found an increased risk for aggression and physical aggression in patients with assumed MID/BIF. We recommend screening for intellectual functioning at the start of treatment and using measures to prevent and manage aggressive behaviour that fits patients with MID/BIF.

Intellectual disability (ID) is a common disorder, yet there is a wide spectrum of impairment from mild to profoundly affected individuals. Mild ID is seen as the low extreme of the general distribution of intelligence, while severe ID is often seen as a monogenic disorder caused by rare, pathogenic, highly penetrant variants. To investigate the genetic factors influencing mild and severe ID, we evaluated rare and common variation in the Northern Finland Intellectual Disability cohort (n = 1096 ID patients), a cohort with a high percentage of mild ID (n = 550) and from a population bottleneck enriched in rare, damaging variation. Despite this enrichment, we found only a small percentage of ID was due to recessive Finnish-enriched variants (0.5%). A larger proportion was linked to dominant variation, with a significant burden of rare, damaging variation in both mild and severe ID. This rare variant burden was enriched in more severe ID (p = 2.4e-4), patients without a relative with ID (p = 4.76e-4), and in those with features associated with monogenic disorders. We also found a significant burden of common variants associated with decreased cognitive function, with no difference between mild and more severe ID. When we included common and rare variants in a joint model, the rare and common variants had additive effects in both mild and severe ID. A multimodel inference approach also found that common and rare variants together best explained ID status (ΔAIC = 16.8, ΔBIC = 10.2). Overall, we report evidence for the additivity of rare and common variant burden throughout the spectrum of intellectual disability.

Although students with mild intellectual disability (MID) present unique educational needs and considerations, in research and in practice, they are sometimes aggregated with students with learning disabilities and emotional disorders and considered mild disabilities or aggregated with students with moderate/severe intellectual disability and labelled as intellectual disability. This study is a secondary analysis of the NLTS2 data to understand the immediate (i.e. within 2 years) and longer-term outcomes (i.e. within 4 years, within 6 years and within 8 years) of secondary students with MID. Frequency distributions and a significant test were conducted to analyse data from the NLTS2. Students with MID struggled with postschool success when considering employment, postsecondary education, and independent living. Across the span of time since graduation (i.e. within 2 years, within 4 years, within 6 years, and within 8 years), a lack of consistent pattern existed, in general, for these students with regards to outcomes. Students did not necessarily improve or decline in their outcomes the longer they were out of school. The postschool outcome data warrant critical examination of the factors contributing to the poor outcomes. The field needs to systematically understand what schools can control with regards to improved outcomes for students with MID - particularly employment regardless of the length of time out of school and independent living as the time since school exit increases - and then implement such practices.

PurposePatients who have intellectual disability and mental illness will occasionally need inpatient treatment. However, research is sparse on psychosocial factors influencing psychiatric units for patients with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study is to examine whether adults with intellectual disabilities can reliably rate the Ward Atmosphere Scale – Real Ward (WAS‐R).Design/methodology/approachA total of 17 patients with mild and moderate intellectual disability and 21 staff members were asked to complete the WAS‐R. The authors used six subscales (involvement, support, practical orientation, order and organisation, angry and aggressive behaviour, and staff control) that have proved to be of major importance for patient satisfaction and treatment outcome to measure the patients' and the staff members' perceptions of the treatment milieu. To examine the internal consistency Cronbach's alpha was calculated for the patient and staff scores, respectively.FindingsA total of 16 patients completed the form. Patients with mild intellectual disabilities were able to answer the WAS with some help, whereas patients with moderate intellectual disabilities had major difficulties with understanding more than half of the WAS items. These difficulties were also reflected in the internal consistency scores. Cronbach's alpha was satisfactory (≥0.50) for five subscales for patients with mild intellectual disabilities, but only satisfactory for two of the six subscales for patients with moderate intellectual disabilities.Research limitations/implicationsA replication study should use a shorter version of the WAS‐R, and family or caregivers should answer the WAS‐R additionally to the patients.Originality/valueThis study may encourage more research on treatment milieu for patients with intellectual disability and mental illness.

The present study was conducted as a Master's Thesis in the postgraduate program "Postgraduate Studies in Mathematics" of the Science School of the Greek Open University.A systematic literature review was performed on the strategic intervention in Secondary Education students with learning disabilities.This review has been implemented according to the definition provided in Fink and its structure follows the review's protocol PRISMA Checklist.The systematic literature review resulted in 15 articles that met the inclusion criteria.The aim of this study is to identify the optimal strategic intervention for Secondary Education students with learning disabilities.The synthesis of results has revealed a series of educational strategies that appear to be beneficial to these students, including, among others, explicit instruction and its models, such as graphic organizer and schema-based instruction, CRA and concrete manipulatives.In the discussion section we will analyze the nature and focus of the interventions applied in the reviewed studies, as well as, the fields and topics of mathematics that consisted of the main study subjects in them.Finally, we will discuss the effects, not only on the research, but also on the application of these interventions on Secondary Education students.

Manipulatives offer students with disabilities access and support in classrooms. However, it is important for educators to be aware that concrete manipulatives are not the only option. Teachers serving students identified with a disability in the middle grades may consider selecting virtual manipulatives as supplement, complement, or in lieu of concrete manipulatives. In this technology in action, the authors provide information for educators about using virtual manipulatives and how they can be used across different settings, instructional needs, and mathematical content areas for middle school students with disabilities.

Language and culture play a critical role in the teaching of mathematics and this role intensifies when considering the teaching of mathematics in dual language classrooms. This book unpacks lessons learned from socio-cultural theory being applied to research of the teaching of mathematics to Emergent Bilinguals with the end of informing practice. Utilizing a socio-cultural lens, authors present the possibilities and limits of the teaching of mathematics in dual language programs (90/10; 50/50 models). Themes of translanguaging, disciplinary literacy instruction, and culturally responsive instruction are leveraged to test the potential of these constructs to assist Spanish/English Emergent Bilinguals access rigorous mathematics content. Authors also present limits to these models, as often they can overshadow the mathematics learning. We embrace a stance where language and literacy are seen as tools for content area learning and not as ends unto themselves.

A question of perspective—parenting and other matters in the lives of people with learning disabilities

China plays an important role in the global basic education of mathematics. Moreover, China has a lot of educational experience and methods and trains many excellent talents in the field of mathematics. However, there are still various disadvantages in the process of mathematics teaching. The traditional exam-oriented education makes the talent thought of mathematics education lack openness. Teachers also focus on difficult problems, partial questions, and exam questions during teaching. When teaching, teachers cannot contact students' daily life, which has low value. Mathematics teaching methods are too rigid and lack attraction. Most teachers focus on contents in textbooks while students cannot understand the value of mathematics in learning. This results in the decline of most students' interest in mathematics courses. To solve this problem, mathematical modeling teaching is put forward. China has a short application time in this field, and mathematical modeling is complex and systematic. When dealing with mathematical modeling problems, we must be able to skillfully use the basic knowledge learned and also involve the knowledge of other disciplines, so we must realize the integration of the knowledge of various disciplines. In addition, mathematical modeling teaching attaches great importance to students' communication ability, mathematical interpretation ability, and teamwork ability. Teachers can improve students' ability; however, our teachers' abilities in mathematical modeling teaching are uneven and there are no relevant standards. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an evaluation index system to accurately judge teachers' abilities. Based on this, this study uses the Delphi AHP method to construct the evaluation index system and selects four criteria level indexes and 12 index level indexes to judge teachers' mathematical modeling teaching ability.

This study investigates kindergarten children’s mathematics learning with a focus on the role of teachers’ mathematics education and readiness beliefs, and home learning environment. Using structural equation modeling to estimate the individual differences in early mathematics learning, data from 5,845 kindergarteners was evaluated. Findings show that teachers’ beliefs regarding what is important for children’s preparation in mathematics selectively influenced what they taught in the classrooms for mathematics education and what children experienced in kindergarten. The results also reveal that children who were provided ample experiences in reading and singing activities at home, and more frequent math learning practices, problem-solving activities, and arts or life-related materials within the classroom showed greater math thinking skills and higher math achievement scores than those who were not provided such experiences. More reading and singing activities at home, math learning practices, problem solving activities, and use of art or life-related materials during the kindergarten year are encouraged to highlight kindergarteners’ mathematics instruction and learning. What has a greater impact on mathematics learning in kindergarteners appears to be the kind of instruction that is planned and delivered, rather than teachers’ beliefs regarding mathematics readiness.

Background: Autism in children is frequently associated with Intellectual disability (ID) and epilepsy. It is known that lower IQinfluences epilepsy rates; however, electroencephalographic (EEG) findings in different grades of intellectual functioning are less well studied. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the EEG findings and their association with the degrees of ID in children with autism. Methods: Fifty-two children, diagnosed with autism according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria, aged between 2 to 12 years, were included in the study. Participants were recruited from outpatient clinic in the Institute for Paediatric Neurodisorder and Autism (IPNA) in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. All of them were subjected to physical and neurological examination. Intelligence quotients (IQ) were measured in all the participants. Psychometric tests Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third edition (BSID III) or Weschler Intelligence Scale for Patients-Revised (WISC-R) were used for evaluating IQ. EEG recordings were done in all the participants. Results: The frequency of EEG abnormalities were observed in 51.9% participants. Among these abnormalities, 36.5% were epileptiform and 15.4% were non-epileptiform. Majority of the focal discharges, in this study were from temporal and frontal ((50% and 40% of focal discharge). Among generalized abnormalities, 89% were symmetrical spike-wave complexes. EEG abnormalities were associated with epilepsy in 66.7% of participants. ID was present in 84.6% and of them, 77% had moderate to severe ID. Mild, moderate or severe ID did not show significant association with EEG abnormalities (p&gt;0.05). However, patients with moderate to severe ID (IQ &lt;50) had a higher rate of EEG abnormalities compared to those without ID or mild ID (81.5% versus 18.5%) (P=0.03). Conclusion: Relatively large number of children with autism and ID had EEG abnormalities and there was a significant association with moderate to severe ID (IQ &lt;50) and EEG abnormalities.

BackgroundFamily is recognised as an important context for the self‐development of young adults in emerging adulthood, although very little research has addressed the perspective of young people with intellectual disability about their families by using self‐report. This study examined how emerging adults with mild intellectual disability define their family support networks, compared with definitions of students without intellectual disability, within a social capital theoretical framework.MethodsFifty‐three participants with mild intellectual disability and 53 students without intellectual disability were interviewed individually using the Family Network Method – Intellectual Disability (FNM‐ID). Data from the FNM‐ID relate to key social network measures on how individuals define their family groups, and how they perceive existing supportive relationships within their families. Participants with mild intellectual disability and students were compared on the FNM‐ID social network measures.ResultsParticipants with mild intellectual disability reported fewer family members who they considered significant to them than students without intellectual disability. They were less likely to include peers (i.e. friends and partners) and siblings in their significant family networks, had fewer relationships with family members in which they received or gave support, had fewer reciprocal support relationships and had a less central position in their family network.DiscussionThe family‐based social capital of emerging adults with mild intellectual disability differed from that of students without intellectual disability. They may remain more dependent on their natural family for emotional support as their supportive networks have not necessarily made the transition to networks with emotionally close peer relationships.