The Effects of Direct Instruction Flashcards with Math Racetrack with
Addition Facts for an Elementary School Student with ADHD
Emily Pfaff1, T. F. McLaughlin2, Jennifer Neyman3, Mary Everson4
1
Gonzaga University, East 502 Boone Ave. Spokane, WA 99258-0025 USA
[email protected]
2
Gonzaga University, East 502 Boone Ave. Spokane, WA 99258-0025 USA
[email protected]
3
Gonzaga University, East 502 Boone Ave. Spokane, WA 99258-0025 USA
[email protected]
4
Spokane Public Schools, North 200 Bernard, Spokane, WA 99202 USA
[email protected]
Abstract – The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of DI
flashcards with a math racetrack procedure on the simple addition facts up through
20 on a second grade boy in a resource room setting. A multiple baseline design
and a variation of addition facts up through 20, was in the ratio of mastered to
unknown number addition facts around the racetrack was employed. Throughout
the study the student was very distracted and had a hard time focusing, so half way
through we placed a new reward if the student stayed on task and was working
hard. This seemed to be very successful and the student worked very hard
throughout the rest of the intervention. The results for the participant indicated that
the DI flashcards and math racetrack were effective in increasing the accuracy,
fluency and retention of the identifying basic addition facts up through 20 and was
very easy to implement in a school setting.
Key Words – ABAB single case design; ADHD; Addition Facts; DI Flashcards;
Math Racetrack
1
Introduction
In everyday life there are many important tasks require math. Therefore, it is necessary for almost any
aspect of daily life, especially, school or real world situations. Learning basic facts is very important
in everyday life, and learning facts becomes a necessity to solve problems that are meaningful, and
relevant (Wilson & Sindelar, 1991). Simple addition facts are a prerequisite for all math, and is a skill
set that our society expects first graders to have already mastered. Our society expects a great deal
from our education system, and schools are expected to hold students to high standards when it comes
to the mastery of important academic subjects, including math (Ravitch, 2010).
Math
underachievement is a huge problem for special education students and these students have a hard
time, grasping the academic concepts as they are presented.
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A successful academic intervention strategy has been the Direct Instruction (DI) flashcard system
(Silbert, Carnine, & Stein, 1981). Using DI flashcards in math requires the teacher to provide the
students with flashcards that contain both known and unknown math facts. The problems given are
determined during baseline with both correct and errors items being employed. The ratio of known to
unknown facts can be whatever ratio, but little evidence has been found to support this notion (Brasch,
Williams, & McLaughlin, 2008; Skarr et al., 2012). When the student makes an error, this error card is
placed back into the pile right behind the next card given, so it can reappear quickly. Also, when the
student makes an error, the teacher engages in model, lead, and test error correction. The teacher
models the correct problem and response, the student and the teacher practice this problem together,
and finally the student is then to say the answer correctly by themselves. When the card appears again
and the student gets it correct it goes to the bottom of the pile. If the student makes an error, the same
model, lead, and test procedure take place with the card again being placed one card behind from the
top. The DI flashcard method has been successful in teaching sight words (Falk, Band, &
McLaughlin, 2003; Kaufman, McLaughlin, Derby, & Waco, 2010; Ruwe, McLaughlin, Derby, &
Johnson, 2011) and math facts (Brasch et al., 2008; Erbey, McLaughlin, Derby, & Everson, 2011;
Glover, McLaughlin, Derby, & Gower, 2010; Hayter, Scott, Weber, & McLaughlin, 2007; Sante,
McLaughlin, & Weber, 2001). DI flashcards have been employed in a wide range of classroom
settings such as a resource room (Erbey et al., 2011; Skarr, McLaughlin, Derby, Meade, & Williams,
2012) self-contained special education BI classrooms at the elementary or high school level (Brasch et
al., 2008; Pierce, McLaughlin, Neyman, & King, 2012), preschool classrooms (Fitting, McLaughlin,
Derby, & Belcher, 2013), self-contained special education classrooms serving young elementary
students with intellectual and/or physical disabilities (Crowley, McLaughlin, & Kahn, 21013), in
elementary general education classrooms (Skarr, Zielinski, Ruwe, Sharp, Williams, & McLaughlin, in
press), and in the home (Mann et al., 2013). Clearly, DI flashcard procedures have been widely
implemented and evaluated with positive results.
At times, reading or math racetracks are often paired with flashcards and data are gathered from the
track at the end of each session (McLaughlin, Weber, Derby, Hyde, Violette, Barton, Arkoosh, 2009;
Romjue, McLaughlin, & Derby, 2011). This has been a very effective and efficient way to gather data
and make evidence-based decisions regarding student progress. When paired with a math racetrack,
the implementation of DI flashcards in a resource room classroom makes it very efficient and easy to
evaluate academic interventions.
The purpose of this particular study was to increase the accuracy and fluency of basic addition facts up
through 20 with one-second grade student with ADHD. This would provide a replication of the work
of Sante et al., (2010). Also, our ultimate goal was to work on our participant’s IEP goal and to have
him improve his performance with his math facts.
2
Method
2.1
Participants and Setting
There was one participant in this study. His resource room teacher selected the participant for this
study because he was in need of extra help for math and it was a goal in his IEP that he needed to work
on. For moving on to the next goal and getting closer to grade level the student needed to master this
pre skill before moving on. The participant was a second grader with a health impairment of ADHD.
He was a white, American who came from a big family who also has siblings with severe disorders.
This study took place in a resource room classroom at a table away from other students. The student
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attended the resource room two times a day for 30 minutes. When he attended there was no other
students in the classroom. Also present in the classroom was the certified classroom teacher teacher,
an Instructional Assistant (IA), and the first author. The first author worked with the participant
individually for 15 minutes each session at an empty table in the classroom. Finally, this resource
room had been the setting for several research projects that have appeared in the peer reviewed
literature (Erbey et al., 2011; Hyde, McLaughlin, & Everson, 2009; Lund, McLaughlin, Neyman, &
Everson, 2012).
2.2
Materials
The first author used flashcards, in which single addition problems were printed on each card. A
regular clock on the wall was used as the timer. The math racetrack that was used in this study
(McLaughlin et al., 2009) contained printed addition problems on the track two or three times each in
a random order (Beveridge, Weber, Derby, & McLaughlin, 2005; Rinaldi & McLaughlin, 1976;
Rinaldi, Sells, & McLaughlin, 1997). The problems were written in a random order to make sure the
students were not memorizing them just from placement.
Fig.1. An example of the type of math racetrack employed in the study
2.3
Dependent Variables and Measurement
There were two dependent variables measured in this study. The first dependent variable was the
number of correctly identified numbers by the participant. A correct response was defined as the
student writing the answer correctly on the sheet or saying it correctly when doing the flashcards. The
second dependent variable was the number of errors made during each session by each participant.
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This was determined by if the student wrote down the wrong answer on the racetrack or said the
wrong answer of the problem. These data were then converted into a percent for each measure. This
was calculated by dividing the number of correct or errors by the number possible and multiplying by
100.
2.4
Experimental Design and Conditions
A single subject, multiple baseline design (Kazdin, 2011; McLaughlin, 1983) across one participants
and different sets of numbers was used to evaluate the effectiveness of both the direct instruction
flashcards and math racetrack to teach number identification. The student received 4 days of Baseline.
2.4.1 Baseline
During baseline, the first author individually presented all the math facts through 20 to the student. As
each problem was presented the first author said, “What is the answer to…” and the student would
have to respond without giving feedback if the answer was correct or in correct.
2.4.2 DI flashcards and math racetrack
When the flash cards were given the student had a set of ten cards and the student had to identify the
answer within a reasonable amount of time. If the student did not answer correctly the first author
would then use the model, lead, test strategy. First say this problem, and then the answer has the
student repeat with the prompt then on his own.
2.5
Reliability of Measurement
Interobserver agreement data were collected on 4 of the 13 sessions during intervention for Participant
this came out to be 100% in agreement from the both because of the students writing and when
verbally saying what the correct answer.
3
Results
In baseline, our participant has low performance for corrects (M = 26.5%; range 20 to 30%) and made
a large percent of errors (M = 73.5%; range 70 to 80% errors). When DI flashcards and the math
racetrack, an improvement for corrects (M = 68.625%) and a decrease in his errors (M = 31.375%;
range 14 to 61%). A replication of the first baseline condition resulted in a decrease in corrects (M =
74%; range =69 to 78%). Also, there was an increase in errors (M = 26%; range 22 to 31%). The
return to DI flashcards and the math racetrack generated an increase in corrects ( M = 85%; range 80 to
88%) and a decrease in errors (M = 15%; range 12 to 20% errors.
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Baseline
Pfaff, et. al.
Flashcards & Racetrack
Baseline
Flashcards
& Racetrack
Incorrect
90
80
% of Behavior
70
60
50
Correct
40
30
20
10
0
-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Session
Fig.2. The number of corrects (open circles) and errors (closed circles) for the two baselines and the
two DI flashcard and math racetrack phases for math facts using addition facts to 20.
Acknowledgement
Preparation of this document was in partial fulfillment for meeting the requirements for an
Endorsement in Special Education from Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA and the Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Washington. Request for reprints should be sent to
Laura Kroll, Department of Special Education, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258-0025 or via
email to [email protected]. Ms. Pfaff is a graduate student in the functional analysis track
in the master’s program in special education.
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