The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effects of strategic counting instruction, with and without deliberate practice with those counting strategies, on number combination (NC) skill among students with mathematics difficulties (MD). Students (n = 150) were stratified on MD status (i.e., MD alone vs. MD with reading difficulty) and site (proximal vs. distal to the intervention developer) and then randomly assigned to control (no tutoring) or 1 of 2 variants of NC remediation. Both remediations were embedded in the same validated word-problem tutoring protocol (i.e., Pirate Math). In 1 variant, the focus on NCs was limited to a single lesson that taught strategic counting. In the other variant, 4–6 min of practice per session was added to the other variant. Tutoring occurred for 16 weeks, 3 sessions per week for 20–30 min per session. Strategic counting without deliberate practice produced superior NC fluency compared to control; however, strategic counting with deliberate practice effected superior NC fluency and transfer to procedural calculations compared with both competing conditions. Also, the efficacy of Pirate Math word-problem tutoring was replicated.
Publication
Learning and Individual Differences, 20(2), 89–100
Link to study
Year of Study
2010
Subject
Math
Program Name
Pirate Math
Program Evaluated
Pirate Math
Tutor Type
Teaching Assistant
Duration
16 weeks
Sample size
150
Grade Level(s)
3rd Grade
Student-Tutor Ratio
1
Effect Size
0.37
Study Design
Student Randomized
Fuchs, L. S., Powell, S. R., Seethaler, P. M., Cirino, P. T., Fletcher, J. M., Fuchs, D., & Hamlett, C. L. (2010). The effects of strategic counting instruction, with and without deliberate practice, on number combination skill among students with mathematics difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.09.003