Children with math difficulties do not have as much support as children with reading difficulties (Fuchs, Seethaler, Powell, Fuchs, Hamlett, & Fletcher, 2008) yet a difficulty in mathematics has the potential to impair a person's daily activities and should be treated seriously by researchers, policy makers and teachers. The ability to recall number facts appears to be fundamental deficit for children (Butterworth, 2005, p.4S8) and interventions using drill and strategic instruction show that these methods are both effective and necessary to improve children's number fact recall. A number of types of tutoring have been used in the D.K. to support mathematics ability including teacher, peer and volunteer tutoring. Volunteer tutoring is a promising method of supporting children with reading difficulties, however there is limited research on its effectiveness for children with mathematics difficulties. Learn-a-Long Math is a volunteer tutoring programme designed using the existing evidence on the most effective methods to support children with mathematics difficulties, This thesis gives a detailed account of its design and evaluation. The programme aimed to improve fact recall and calculation ability of seven and eight year old children. It was evaluated using a randomised controlled trial and process evaluation. The RCT revealed that there was a significant effect of the intervention on the math fluency (ES = .23) and calculation ability of children (ES = .52) however there was 1).0 significant effect of the intervention on the children's attitudes to math. The process evaluation explored the impact and implementation of the programme. It showed that there were benefits for the children; tutors and schools who participated in the evaluation. The findings suggested that there is potential for volunteer tutoring programmes to support children's mathematics achievement at a young age, particularly when they use a combination of drill techniques and strategic instruction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:676278 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Craig, Nicole |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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