How Would You Solve The Problem Of Students Who Are Below Average In School?

The problem which can be seen is that students who are below average in school. There is no specific solution found as yet. All students, including those with learning difficulties, need to be proficient to a level that will allow them to "figure out" problems they encounter in the community and in future work situations. Unfortunately, evidence clearly shows that many students, not just those in special programs, do not have these skills. The National Research Council (NRC, 19) warned that the skills of American children are woefully inadequate for the kinds of problem solving required in the workplace. This claim is supported by 2002 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which showed only about half (59%) of the 12th- grade students could solve problems beyond whole- number computation. (Erica 12- 30)

The outlook for students who have special difficulty in learning subjects is even gloomier. (Michael 13)Studies have reported that 16- and 17- year- old students with learning disabilities score at about the fifth- grade level in computation and application, can demonstrate only limited proficiency in tests of minimum competency at the end of secondary school, and function at least two grade levels below expectancy. Rather than catching up to the other students, these students have even larger age- in- grade discrepancy, made worse by high dropout levels of students with learning and emotional disabilities.

The weaknesses in problem solving of students with disabilities can be traced to confusion over what constitutes problem solving and how to teach it. Some of the most intractable teaching practices in remedial classrooms involve withholding introduction of more complex and interesting content until easier material is mastered and emphasizing skill deficiencies rather than skill strengths. For example, these practices are fostered by beliefs among many educators that (a) math is a set of rules that require memorization, (b) computation problems are always solved by using algorithms, (c) problems always have one correct answer, and (d) people who use mathematics are geniuses. (Roger 23- 30)

But real problems are often ill defined, and their solutions do not follow a linear, prescribed route. Schoenfeld (2009) described a problem as "a task (a) in which the student is interested and engaged and for which he wishes to obtain a resolution, and (b) for which the student does not have a readily accessible mathematical means by which to achieve that resolution". Notable scholars such as Wertheimer (2009), Bruner (2000), and Hiebert et al. (2006) have urged teachers to challenge students to find solutions to problems that interest them. In response to these suggestions, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM; 89) recommended that teachers focus on tasks that encourage students "to explore, to guess, and even to make and correct errors so they gain confidence in their ability to solve complex problems" (NCTM 5). The challenge for teachers, therefore, is to find problem- solving activities that are "authentic" and important to the learner and ...