Teacher-delivered virtual manipulative mathematics intervention to individuals with extensive support needs

While mathematics is foundational to further academic learning and post-school outcomes for students with disabilities, research and practice specifically for those students has not received significant attention. Moreover, an insufficient number of studies have sought to verify the effectiveness of interventions delivered by teachers who work directly with students with extensive support needs (ESN). The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an intervention-the virtual manipulatives-based instructional sequence-in teaching equivalent fractions delivered by the special education teacher who worked regularly with the students. Among three students aged from 15 to 17, all acquired the skill and one of the three maintained the skill up to eight weeks later. With additional strategy (i.e., self-monitoring), the other two students maintained the skill. The study also addressed limitations and future directions.