Implementing CRA With Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities in Mathematics

Abstract

Students with learning disabilities struggle to acquire essential mathematical concepts and skills, especially at the secondary level. One effective approach to improving secondary math performance supported by research is the concrete-to-representational-to-abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction. Although CRA is an evidenced-based instructional practice, it is somewhat complicated for teachers to implement in their day-to-day instruction.To better assist implementation of the CRA, an instructional approach with the mnemonic CRA-MATH was developed as a flexible roadmap to help math teachers better address student deficits using the CRA sequence of instruction. The purpose of this article is to describe the seven-step strategy used to guide curricular CRA modifications in secondary mathematics.