The goal of this 3-year project is to validate an integrated theoretical
model of learning mathematics for adolescents with learning disabilities
in inclusive classrooms. Ultimately, the project intends to demonstrate
how the theory can guide instruction to uncover mathematics skills that
middle school students with disabilities already have and to enhance
these skills with contextualized problems. A secondary yet critical
objective of the research is to document changes in how teachers and
students perceive and act on their beliefs in these contexts.

The project requires the collaboration of interdisciplinary teams of
special education, mathematics, and technical education teachers in
three middle schools committed to serving all students, including youth
with disabilities. The research design includes both quantitative and
qualitative strategies, necessary for testing the proposed theoretical
model in relation to student and teacher outcomes of the interventions. A
quasi-experimental pretest posttest design will test whether
contextualized instruction uncovers and enhances the conceptual
knowledge of middle school students with disabilities. A combination
time series and nonequivalent control group design will measure the
influence of contextualized instruction on procedural knowledge. A
qualitative design will describe how students' math skills were
enhanced. Strategies such as problem solving talk-alouds, interviews,
and time-sampling of teacher-student and student-student interactions
will be used throughout the course of the project.

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