Questions for a parent/teacher review meeting on student progress.

Article

Steve Chinn and Judy Hornigold. www.dyscalculiaassociation.uk. March 2021

These are not in a set order and you do not have to use every question.

• What areas of maths are they struggling with?
• How far behind in maths are they in these areas?
• How did you measure that? How does they compare to their peers?
• What are their main areas of difficulty?
• Can you explain what you think the reasons are for (one of these)?
• What about their short-term memory. Working Memory? What provision/accommodations are you making for any weaknesses? For example, in mental arithmetic?
• How good is their long-term memory for a) basic facts b) procedures and formulas?
• Would a Flexitable or similar aid help?
• Is their processing speed much slower than their peers? How much slower? How have you measured this?
• How is their organisation of work on the page? (If not good: Would squared paper help?)
• Which topics and concepts do they find most difficult?
• Are there gaps in their understanding and recall of key concepts, for example, place value or the inter-relationships between the four operations?
• Do they find it difficult to reverse sequences? For example, count backwards? Count in odd numbers? Count unfamiliar sequences such as 13, 23, 33, 43 ……..?
• Does they find algorithms with multiple steps challenging?
• Do you know how long they spends on maths homework? How do you judge how much to set them compared to their peers?
• What are their areas of strength?
• Do they have any problems in accessing the information in textbooks? Why do you think this is?
• Can they copy from the board/screen effectively, ie accurately and quickly? Do you provide support for this?
• Are there any problems with the vocabulary of maths?
• Can they estimate? Do they overview any question/problem before attempting to solve it?
• Do they find diagrams and/or manipulatives helpful in understanding concepts?
• Do they ever participate in class activities/questions?
• Do you see a lot of ‘no attempts’ in written work in class?
• Do they find word problems especially challenging?
• Are they slow to start work? Do they find it difficult to start work? How do you address this?
• Are they organised for the lesson? Do they have all the equipment needed? Can they get it ready efficiently?
• Do they show signs of anxiety around maths? Do they avoid maths?
• Do they have a negative attitude towards maths? Do they have a fixed mindset about their ability/potential in maths?
• Is there a family history of difficulty in maths?
• How do they react to timed exercises in maths?
• What help is available? Who will provide this? Will they have close liaison with the class teacher?
• How often will progress be checked and measured?