The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population
ABSTRACT. Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international studies such as PISA. Objective: In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment may interfere with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when a psychometric criterion is used establishing an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance<percentile 10) may result in misleading diagnoses. Methods: Therefore, the present study evaluated the performance of 706 Brazilian school children from 3rd to 5th grades on basic arithmetic operations addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Results: In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, or multiplication problems. Conclusions: As such, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian children of our sample. When the majority of children perform poorly on the task at hand, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context.
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Academia Brasileira de Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia Cognitiva e Envelhecimento
2021
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oai:scielo:S1980-576420210002002672021-06-30The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing populationGomides,Mariuche Rodrigues de AlmeidaStarling-Alves,IsabellaPaiva,Giulia MoreiraCaldeira,Leidiane da SilvaAichinger,Ana Luíza Pedrosa NevesCarvalho,Maria Raquel SantosBahnmueller,JuliaMoeller,KorbinianLopes-Silva,Júlia BeatrizHaase,Vitor Geraldi diagnosis dyscalculia learning disabilities mathematics ABSTRACT. Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international studies such as PISA. Objective: In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment may interfere with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when a psychometric criterion is used establishing an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance<percentile 10) may result in misleading diagnoses. Methods: Therefore, the present study evaluated the performance of 706 Brazilian school children from 3rd to 5th grades on basic arithmetic operations addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Results: In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, or multiplication problems. Conclusions: As such, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian children of our sample. When the majority of children perform poorly on the task at hand, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAcademia Brasileira de Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia Cognitiva e EnvelhecimentoDementia & Neuropsychologia v.15 n.2 20212021-04-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articletext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642021000200267en10.1590/1980-57642021dn15-020015 |
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Gomides,Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida Starling-Alves,Isabella Paiva,Giulia Moreira Caldeira,Leidiane da Silva Aichinger,Ana Luíza Pedrosa Neves Carvalho,Maria Raquel Santos Bahnmueller,Julia Moeller,Korbinian Lopes-Silva,Júlia Beatriz Haase,Vitor Geraldi |
| spellingShingle |
Gomides,Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida Starling-Alves,Isabella Paiva,Giulia Moreira Caldeira,Leidiane da Silva Aichinger,Ana Luíza Pedrosa Neves Carvalho,Maria Raquel Santos Bahnmueller,Julia Moeller,Korbinian Lopes-Silva,Júlia Beatriz Haase,Vitor Geraldi The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| author_facet |
Gomides,Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida Starling-Alves,Isabella Paiva,Giulia Moreira Caldeira,Leidiane da Silva Aichinger,Ana Luíza Pedrosa Neves Carvalho,Maria Raquel Santos Bahnmueller,Julia Moeller,Korbinian Lopes-Silva,Júlia Beatriz Haase,Vitor Geraldi |
| author_sort |
Gomides,Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida |
| title |
The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| title_short |
The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| title_full |
The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| title_fullStr |
The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| title_sort |
quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population |
| description |
ABSTRACT. Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international studies such as PISA. Objective: In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment may interfere with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when a psychometric criterion is used establishing an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance<percentile 10) may result in misleading diagnoses. Methods: Therefore, the present study evaluated the performance of 706 Brazilian school children from 3rd to 5th grades on basic arithmetic operations addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Results: In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, or multiplication problems. Conclusions: As such, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian children of our sample. When the majority of children perform poorly on the task at hand, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context. |
| publisher |
Academia Brasileira de Neurologia, Departamento de Neurologia Cognitiva e Envelhecimento |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642021000200267 |
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