Improving Students' Proportional Thinking Using Schema-Based Instruction

This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional program (schema-based instruction, SBI) designed to teach 7th graders how to comprehend and solve proportion problems involving ratios/rates, scale drawings, and percents. The SBI program emphasized the underlying mathematical structure of problems via schematic diagrams, focused on a 4-step procedure to support and monitor problem solving, and addressed the flexible use of alternative solution strategies based on the problem situation. Blocking by teacher at three middle schools, the authors randomly assigned the 21 classrooms to one of two conditions: SBI and control. Classroom teachers provided the instruction. Results of multilevel modeling used to test for treatment effects after accounting for pretests and other characteristics (gender, ethnicity) revealed the direct effects of SBI on mathematical problem solving at posttest. However, the improved problem solving skills were not maintained a month later when SBI was no longer in effect nor did the skills transfer to solving problems in new domain-level content

Identifying the characteristics of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. April 2011. Major:Educational Psychology. Advisor: Asha K. Jitendra. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 154 pages, appendix p. 98-154.Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), characterized by various levels of dysmorphia and behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions, is the result of prenatal alcohol exposure. FASD characteristics can be masked by many other conditions. As a result, early identification of FASD is often difficult, leading to a delay of children with FASD receiving necessary services. However, screening children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is the major comorbid disorder of FASD, may enable the identification of children with FASD earlier than screening all children in schools. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the differences between children with ADHD only and children with FASD and ADHD in terms of adaptive functioning, behavioral characteristics, and academic performance that impact school outcomes and can be recognized in classrooms. This study conducted a review of the medical records of 149 individuals with single ADHD diagnosis and 189 individuals with dual diagnosis of FASD and ADHD (Mage = 11.25, SD = 2.12). Results of analysis of covariance analysis indicated: (1) no difference in adaptive functioning between the dual diagnosis group and the single diagnosis group, (2) the dual diagnosis group exhibited significantly more externalizing behaviors than the single diagnosis group, but the difference between the two groups regarding internalizing behaviors was not significant, (3) there was no significant differences between the two groups on reading and mathematics. Differences in characteristics between the two groups and implications for future research are also discussed