Analysis of Mathematics Competence of Learning Disabled Adolescents

Abstract

Minimum competency testing is currently a reality in American education; the practice presents a number of problems for regular class and handicapped students. In this research, the mathematics performance of learning disabled (LD) students and their nondisabled peers on the Florida State Student Assessment Test-II (SSAT-II) was evaluated, and employers' opinions about the importance of mathematical skills assessed on the SSAT-II were analyzed. It was reasoned that information such as this would provide valuable benchmarks for use in planning, organizing, and implementing educational programs for high school students. Skill performance and mastery scores were tabulated and compared for adolescents classified as learning disabled and their regular class peers; the relative importance of various skills to employers was also tabulated and compared. Strengths and weaknesses in basic math competencies were identified and relations among these skill performances and employer opinions were identified. In general, LD students performed better on skills requiring literal use of numbers and worse on skills requiring application of mathematical knowledge. Employers' ratings of the extent to which various skills were required in the world of work supported the importance of competence in these basic skills.