The impact of both personalizing mathematical word problems and rewording them for explicitness was tested with 68 second-grade students and 59 fifth-grade students in a within-subjects design. Analyses of problem-solving scores showed that the second grade students benefited only when personalization and rewording were used in combination. The fifth graders, however, benefited consistently from personalization but realized no advantages from rewording. These findings suggest that the potential benefits for translating problems are supplanted for more experienced problem solvers by their better developed schemata for representing the problem structures. Regardless of problem-solving experience, personalization was interpreted as making problems more motivating and easier to represent mentally in relation to existing knowledge.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a sweeping piece of civil rights legislation directly affecting public schools. Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act are more frequently applied, ADA may offer both students and employees another avenue for redress. It is at this intersection between the ADA and the IDEA that requirements for antidiscriminatory policies and practices present serious dilemmas for school officials. Typically, over time courts will provide answers about requirements, and state education agencies will promulgate application regulations. In the meantime, school officials grapple on a regular basis with implementing the requirements of the ADA. The authors of this article describe current circumstances that act as a catalyst for reflection, discussion, and proactive-rather than reactive-responses.

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