THE mathematics Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations (CSEC) is just around the corner, and there is ongoing discussion by the Ministry of Education to provide targeted support for students. While advocates blame the lack of effective instruction and shortage of mathematics educators, the possibility that there may be an underlying cause of the perpetuating challenges students face in mathematics should not be ignored.

Learning math is challenging for a lot of students. In fact, research indicates that up to 25 per cent of people may experience challenges learning math with an estimate of seven per cent of school age children worldwide having a math disability. Given the emphasis placed on literacy (reading), specific disability in mathematics (dyscalculia) is one of the least diagnosed and is often missed in the classroom until students get to high school. Discussing the challenges of having a learning disability or difficulty in math and recommendations for teaching and learning is vital to address some of the gaps we see in the classroom.

Math difficulties vs math disability

Mathematics is not only the science of numbers but also is used in everyday life from calculating time and distance, to handling money and analysing data to make decisions in financial planning and insurance purchasing, and is essential in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. According to math experts, the term “mathematical difficulties” (MD) refers to children whose poor mathematics achievement as often indicated on assessment is caused by a variety of factors from poor instruction to environmental factors. Children with mathematical difficulties have low average performance or poor performance in math, but not all children with mathematical difficulties will have MD, which is hypothesised to be due to an inherent weakness in mathematical cognition not attributable to sociocultural or environmental causes. In the Jamaican classroom, it is difficult to determine the degree to which students’ low performance in mathematics is an indication of math difficulties or math disability due to lack of early identification and intervention and formal assessment approaches that is plaguing the country. A math disability is a lifelong condition, while a math difficulty may be corrected with appropriate, ongoing, and effective math interventions. It is disheartening that the practice of “wait to fail” is driving attention to the challenges students face in math in Jamaican classrooms.

Identifying red flags for math difficulties and disabilities

Children with math disability exhibit several signs in the classroom from early years. One common concern is around students lack interest in math in Jamaica, which can be an indication of a math disability or math difficulty which can stem from ongoing failure and challenges learning math. According to Ferraz and Neves (2015), students who struggle with math might develop a math phobia. This is often demonstrated as students experiencing anxiety around math where they may hide away from class or be distracted in the classroom during math instruction. Children with math disability will:

Early years-pre-school

-Have difficulty recognising numbers.

-Be delayed in learning to count.

-Struggle to connect numerical symbols (5) with their corresponding words (five).

-Have difficulty recognising patterns and placing things in order.

-Lose track when counting.

-Need to use visual aids — like fingers — to help count.

Primary school

-Have significant difficulty learning basic math functions like addition and subtraction, times tables and more.

-Be unable to grasp the concepts behind word problems and other non-numerical math calculations.

-Have difficulty estimating how long it will take to complete a task.

-Struggle with math homework assignments and tests.

-Have difficulty keeping at grade-level in math.

-Struggle to process visual-spatial ideas like graphs and charts.

-Difficulty remembering math facts, formulas, rules, or steps to complete a math problem.

High school

-Have trouble remembering numbers such as phone numbers, or game scores.

-Struggle with money matters such as making change, counting bills, calculating a tip, splitting a check, or estimating how much something will cost.

-Have difficulty judging the length of distances and how long it will take to get from one location to another.

-Struggle to remember directions.

-Have a hard time telling left from right.

-Get easily frustrated by games that require consistent score keeping, number strategies or counting.

-Have difficulty reading clocks and telling time.

Some students may demonstrate some of these signs due to lack of exposure to adequate math concepts and instruction which may cause a math difficulty; however, if students are given appropriate opportunities to develop foundational math skills and exposure to math concepts and learning in the home, school and community, some of these challenges may go away. For a student with a math disability, these challenges are usually ongoing and happen across multiple settings (school, home, community) and will continue throughout adulthood.

Recommendations

Jamaica will continue to see an increase in low math performance if intentional support is not put in place for students struggling with math. Recommendations for improvement include early identification and intervention, increased awareness and access to formal assessment and increased government support.

Early identification and intervention

Jamaica needs to move away from a wait-to-fail model to early identification and intervention for students who struggle in math. Waiting for the outcome of performance on CSEC in math which shows alarming low performance is detrimental to students’ success in math competencies. Children require exposure to early math symbols and concepts in the home and school. In many primary schools, students complete the Grade One Individual Learning Profile to evaluate readiness in literacy and numeracy skills. What do we do with that information? Ideally, that information should be used to identify students who do not start primary school with the foundational numeracy skills and start early intervention where necessary. Subsequently, these students complete formative and summative assessment in math throughout the year and participate in other standardised assessments such as Primary Exit Profile starting in grade four. I encourage school leaders to develop a framework for providing effective measures to intentionally identify and use the information to provide targeted math intervention for struggling students in these areas. students who struggle in

During the elementary years, focus is placed on mathematical fundamentals with the goal of moving from counting skills to multiplying and dividing fractions. By middle school, students are expected to understand geometry, ratios, and proportions, and pre-algebra skills. During high school, the focus is on more advanced algebra, functions, modelling, advanced geometry, statistics, and probability content. If students lack the foundational and prerequisite skills in math, naturally, they will struggle in high school and their performance will be low. Not only is early intervention important for developing academic skills, but it can also mitigate some of the influences it has on students’ self-confidence and anxieties around learning math, causing them to shy away from the subject.

Access to formal assessment

With early identification and intervention, some students may have ongoing difficulties in learning math. This may lead to frustration for students and teachers. Therefore, the government needs to provide more access to formal assessment to identify and rule-out a math learning disability. Students with a learning disability in mathematics may not struggle with all areas of math. Some students may only struggle in one of these areas; problem solving, math calculations, number sense, basic math facts while others may have challenges in all or a combination of those skills. Hence, it is critical for students to have access to formal assessment and diagnosis which can identify the core areas of difficulty. With assessment and diagnosis, students can benefit from compensatory strategies, targeted math support. In addition, based on the identified specific challenges, students can benefit from appropriate assessment accommodations during class and on national exams such as extended test time, use of a calculator and other assistive technology, a scribe or reader where applicable. An increased awareness of these challenges and services can lead to improvement and support for students who struggle in math.

Increased Government support – resource priority

The lack of government support around appropriate educational support for struggling students has permeated the educational system. I encourage the government and ministry leaders to place greater emphasis on ensuring that schools are equipped with the necessary resources to support our most vulnerable students. Without appropriate and effective support in schools, students who struggle with any area of academic and social emotional learning may fall through the cracks. These are some of the students who have high dropout rates and demonstrate low performance in school. Provision of classroom resources such as assistive technology, math software programs, community centres for math tutoring can go a long way in helping students who struggle in math.

Training through professional development is crucial. In Jamaica where there is a shortage of teachers, resulting in some teachers teaching in areas in which they are not trained. For example, a Social Study trained teacher, assigned to teach Math in primary and high schools. This can lead to frustration of teachers and low pedagogical efficacy which negatively affects students learning. In working with what schools have, some of these barriers to effective instruction and learning can be alleviated through targeted professional development and coaching for teachers.

Additionally, subsidised provision of community and after school homework programs targeted for math skills support should be considered by the government. With some families lacking knowledge and resources to support their children with homework, this initiative can provide the support children from these families need to acquire and reinforce math skills.

No country or school is perfect. However, awareness and priority on students learning should take precedence. Our students are the future of any society. Mathematical skills are not limited to the classroom but are applicable and relevant in navigating everyday life. Teachers cannot do it alone. Improvement in math and other areas of academics for struggling students require a collaborative effort and government support.

Dr Kishi Anderson Leachman is an assistant professor in inclusive education, University of Winnipeg, Canada. She has over 15 years’ experience as a special educator in classrooms in Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Canada.