Mathematics Strategy Instruction for Children With Serious Problem-Solving Difficulties

This intervention provides explicit instruction in cognitive strategies to improve math word problem-solving accuracy for Grade 3 students with serious math difficulties. The intervention includes curriculum materials that gradually increase the number of irrelevant propositions within word problems across 20 lessons. Treatment conditions include verbal strategies (underlining questions, circling numbers, identifying key words, crossing out irrelevant information), visual strategies (using diagrams to represent parts/wholes and comparisons), or a combination of both. Each 30-minute lesson includes warm-up activities (calculation practice and puzzles), direct instruction on strategies or rules, guided practice with three problems including tutor feedback, and independent practice with three problems. Sessions are delivered three times per week for 8 weeks in small groups of 2-4 students by trained tutors (graduate students or paraprofessionals).