Supporting Dyscalculia with Early Numeracy Instruction
In 2023, at least seven states mandated dyscalculia screenings, due to the emerging data on the pandemic’s impact on math. While many can no longer cling to the age-old, “we’re just not math people” retort; but need to shift to a core curriculum and choose an intervention solution that adheres to numeracy indicators.
With this new legislation, many are hearing of dyscalculia for the first time, despite an estimated 5 to 10 percent of people having dyscalculia (Understood.org) and at least 10% of students showing persistent struggles with mathematics (NIH). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) describes dyscalculia as:
A learning disability affecting the acquisition of numerical-arithmetical skills. Affected people show persistent deficits in number processing, which are associated with aberrant brain activation and structure.
Identifying students at risk for dyscalculia and intervening early is crucial. These common trends can be observed in students early on:
These struggles can look different with dyscalculia, depending on the age of the student. Additionally, students may experience a high feeling of frustration, significant levels of anxiety, and better performance in other subjects.?
It’s important to be reactive to the diagnosis. The earlier it’s identified, the better and the quicker you can assist students in learning how to process numbers. The good news is screeners, like the Classworks Universal Screener, can often catch the concern early.?
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Early Numeracy Indicators
Research indicates that screeners for K-2nd grade students are effective for indicating when further Dyscalculia testing is appropriate when they include:?
The Classworks Universal Screener is based on that research and measures student performance with key domains that are indicative of mathematical performance:
Each of these strands has been identified as early predictors for further screening for learning disabilities, specifically dyscalculia. When working with students who are showing signs of a learning disability, Dyscalculia.org encourages the use of screeners that are not timed or paper tests but online and student-paced. It is also recommended to have students complete with a pencil and paper to work through the problems. These three suggestions are seamless to implement with the screener. An added benefit of the Classworks Universal Screener is that it limits the number of tests for students to take and easily identifies the students needing additional testing.
You can see student results by running the Mathematics Universal Screener Student Summary Report which shows if a student (K-2) has been identified with a Dyscalculia Indicator and Early Numeracy Indicators.