Abstracts - Earli

B 1028 August 2007 17:30 - 18:50Room: 0.83 EötvösPaper SessionAt-risk studentsChair:Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta, University of Örebro, SwedenLearning disabilities in math in Grade 5 and Grade 8: An empirical studyElisabeth Moser Opitz , Pädagogische Hochschule Bern, SwitzerlandA research project (2001-2004) examined more precisely the below average performance inmathematics by pupils in grades 5 and 8 with average and below average IQ, as well as themathematical competencies of a comparison group (N total = 266). The results indicate that pupils(both genders) weak in mathematics did not acquire – or only partially acquired – specific aspectsof the subject matter in the first four years of school (called "basic subject matters"). No significantdifferences were found between pupils with below average IQ and average IQ. Regression analysisshowed that the current mathematical performance is predicted by the knowledge of the basicsubject matters (especially decimal system, counting in tens or twos, understanding ofmultiplication, division and completion). These findings lead to important implications fordiagnostics and instruction.The influence of working memory and early numeracy on arithmetic performance in children withcerebral palsy.Kathleen Jenks, Radboud University, NetherlandsErnest C.D.M. van Lieshout, Vrije Universiteit, NetherlandsJan de Moor, Radboud University, NetherlandsThe development of addition and subtraction skill was assessed in first graders with cerebral palsy(CP) in both mainstream (16) and special education (41) and a control group of unimpaired firstgraders in mainstream education (16). Both CP groups showed evidence of working memorydeficits. The three groups exhibited different developmental patterns in the area of early numeracyskills: all three groups differed in the beginning of first grade and only the CP-mainstream groupcaught up to the control group by the end of first grade. Children with CP in special educationwere found to receive less arithmetic instruction and instruction time was in turn positively relatedto arithmetic accuracy. The control group out-performed the CP mainstream education group,who, in turn, out-performed the CP special education group in addition and subtraction accuracy,but only the differences between the CP special education group and the other two groupsachieved statistical significance. An ANCOVA revealed that all observed group differences inaddition and subtraction accuracy could be completely explained by a combination of workingmemory and early numeracy. The development of arithmetic accuracy throughout first grade wasseen as a chronological process. Presumably as a result of the neurological damage that occurs inor before the first year of life, CP was shown to lead to deficits in the visual-spatial sketchpad,phonological loop and central executive of working memory. Working memory, in turn, explaineda portion of the observed group differences in the early numeracy skills that develop in the preschoolyears. The combined effects of working memory, and early numeracy were sufficient tocompletely explain the observed group differences on addition and subtraction accuracy.– 90 –