Dyscalculia: the cultural lie

We still treat math as a moral test. If you cannot do mental arithmetic on command you must be lazy distracted or irresponsible.

That myth starts early. A child who struggles with multiplication gets told to try harder. That same child grows up downloads a budgeting app and is told again to just be more disciplined.

Read all about it HERE

Too hot for math?

  • Academic performance drops when temperatures rise, according to a study released Thursday by the NWEA. When test-day temperatures clocked over 80 degrees, students had lower math MAP Growth scores, the organization that administers the assessment found. 
  • Extreme heat affects high-poverty students especially. The NWEA study found that high heat negatively impacted math scores up to twice as much for students in high-poverty schools than for those from low-poverty schools.
  • The study recommends educators set testing schedules around weather conditions when possible, create better testing conditions by moving testing to cooler areas and testing during the morning, invest in updated HVAC infrastructure, and ensure that districts’ infrastructure planning takes into account high-poverty communities. 

Read the full story HERE

Understanding How You Can Help Students With Dyscalculia

By providing targeted supports and instruction, teachers can help students with dyscalculia find more comfort and success in math class.

Teachers can make a significant positive impact on students with dyscalculia by building their own understanding of the condition and implementing teaching strategies that effectively support students.

See the original post HERE

Signs of Dyscalculia: How to Recognize the Struggles with Math

The Stemly tutoring company has a great page with lots of good information about dyscalculia.

See the full page here

Children with special educational needs are more likely to miss school

But it’s sign of a system under strain.

Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are twice as likely as their peers to be persistently absent from school.

Persistent absence means that they miss up to 10% of school sessions (sessions are a morning or afternoon at school). For those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – a legal document that lays out support they are entitled to – the picture is even worse. They are up to seven times more likely to be severely absent, meaning that they are missing more than half of school sessions. Absence is higher still for pupils in special schools compared with those in mainstream education.

Read the article HERE