Manipulatives are widely considered an effective practice and have been recommended as an evidence-based practice for students identified with a learning disability when used within the concrete–representational–abstract instructional framework. The aim of the current study was to evaluate single-case experimental designs that implemented a mathematics intervention using manipulatives on the mathematical outcomes of students at risk or identified with a disability. A total of 53 studies were included in the review. The Tau- U effect size (ES) across studies ranged from 0.34 to 1.00, with an omnibus ES of 0.91 (CI95 = [0.87, 0.95]). The between-case standardized mean difference for individual studies ranged from 0.03 to 18.58. Moderator analyses revealed that out of nine variables analyzed (i.e., study quality, design, age, interventionist, manipulative type, perceptual richness, math concept, dependent variable, and disability category), only disability category served as a moderator. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Federal special education laws and regulations mandate students of transition age receive transition education to prepare for life after high school (Field, Martin, Miller, Ward,
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.