Item Mass and Complexity and the Arithmetic Computation of Students with Learning Disabilities

Authors

  • John F. Cawley
  • Teri Shepard
  • Maureen Smith
  • Rene S. Parmar

Abstract

The performance of students with learning disabilities was examined on four tasks of arithmetic computation within each of the basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Seventy-six students with learning disabilities, aged 10 to 15 years participated in the study. The students were all being served in self-contained, intermediate-level, special education classes in an urban school district. Four sets of tasks were constructed for each of the four arithmetic operations. Set 1 consisted of single-digit items, Set 2 combined the single-digit items into double-digit items, Set 3 consisted of twodigit and three-digit item combinations, and Set 4 consisted of complex items with renaming. Results indicate that students varied significantly in their performance across sets and operations. Implications for the performance variance are examined in light of current curricula and instructional practices. The intercorrelations between the various sets and operations were also examined to determine interrelationships which may impact perfonnance. Finally, the paper examined the question of using items versus strokes-within-items as the metric for student assessment and instruction.

Issue

Section

Articles