Talks & Lectures

When students are struggling with math, how do we know how to help? What screening tools should we use? What interventions work best?

Students struggle with mathematics for many different reasons, yet math difficulties are often treated as a single problem to be remediated through standard intervention programs. When the roots of a student’s math learning difficulties are not well understood, instructional approaches may fail to address the underlying challenges that block students’ access to learning.

This session draws on the presenter’s extensive work assessing and supporting students with math learning challenges and disabilities. Using case studies and teaching examples, the session will explore how different underlying challenges shape students’ math learning experiences and how recognizing these patterns can inform more effective instructional supports.

Participants will first learn a framework for understanding why students struggle with math, organized around four categories of root challenges: engagement, curriculum and instruction, skill development, and brain-based core challenges. Using teaching examples, participants will explore how different root challenges affect students’ learning and how interventions and supports can address their underlying needs and make learning accessible. Participants will also explore strategies for identifying students’ learning challenges and needs.

By expanding our understanding and identification of struggling math students to include the roots of their learning challenges, we can more fully explore interventions and supports that can help students learn and succeed in math.