Experimental Intervention Studies on Word Problem Solving and Math Disabilities: A Selective Analysis of the Literature

This article provides a quantitative synthesis of the published literature on word problem solving intervention studies for children with math disabilities (MD). Seven group and eight single-subject design studies met inclusion criteria. Mean effect sizes (ESs) for solution accuracy for group design studies were 0.95 (SE = .19) for children with MD-only and -0.45 (SE = .14) for children with MD and reading disabilities (MD + RD) when compared with their counterparts in the control condition. The mean ES for single-subject design studies was 0.90 (range = 0.09-2.99), with a mean ES of 1.45 for MD-only students and a mean ES of 0.58 for MD + RD students. Effective group and single-subject interventions shared a number of common instructional components (e.g., advance organizer, skill modeling). In general, the results suggest that specific sample characteristics (reading ability) and specific instruction components (sequencing, explicit practice, task reduction, advanced organizers, questioning, task difficulty control, elaboration, skill modeling, strategy cues) play a major role in treatment outcomes for children with MD.