Begin targeted math support for BVI students in middle school, focusing on algebra-predictive topics with systematic differentiated instruction and inclusive assessment¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review recommends starting support for BVI students' propensity to lag in mathematics in middle school, because success in algebra is a predictor for future college and career success. Teachers must know students' ongoing needs and adapt in a timely manner, combining systematic differentiated instruction with inclusive assessments that meet every test taker at their zone of proximal development and use a growth point framework. The most predictive middle school topics named are expressions and equations, and properties of the natural number set as they operate in rational and integer number sets.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers must know the ongoing needs of their students and how to adapt to those needs in a timely manner
• An inclusive assessment using a growth point framework; the review suggests implementing an already existing diagnostic tool with materials adapted for BVI use

Constraints¶

• The adaptation and creation of new tools should not outpace what goes on in the classroom; the demands of diagnostic tasks should match the needs of the student

Target Learners¶

• Middle school students who are blind or visually impaired

Target Learning Goals¶

• Algebra readiness, including expressions and equations and properties of number sets

Claims¶

• Math achievement of BVI students lags sighted peers and the gap widens with age [+W]
• BVI students face material and instructional barriers: late STEM materials, error-laden tactile worksheets, and variable teacher graphic descriptions [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Add a gestures-teaching world to enable differentiated starting points, and expand content beyond linear equations

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Steinbach, S. (2022). Looking beyond vision: Supports for students who are blind or visually impaired in mathematics. NWEA. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/looking-beyond-vision-supports-for-students-who-are-blind-or-visually-impaired-in-mathematics/