Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions have been shown to improve both communication and social skills in children and youth with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. AAC applications have become available for personal devices such as cell phones, MP3 Players, and personal computer tablets. It is critical that these new forms of AAC are explored and evaluated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of the Apple iPad™ as a communication device by comparing its use to a communication system using picture cards. Five elementary students with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities who used a picture card system participated in the study. The results were mixed; communication behaviors either increased when using the iPad or remained the same as when using picture cards. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Common Core Standards require demonstration of conceptual knowledge of numbers, operations, and relations between mathematical concepts. Supplemental instruction should explicitly guide students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in these skills. In this article, we illustrate implementation of the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence and the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) for teaching multiplication with regrouping to students with SLD. CRA combined with SIM has been shown to be effective in teaching computation for students with SLD, specifically for developing conceptual understanding. Four elementary students with SLD participated in this study. The researchers used a multiple-probe design to show a functional relation. Students demonstrated increases in computational fluency; skills were maintained and generalized.

Understanding related to fraction concepts is a critical prerequisite for advanced study in mathematics such as algebra. Therefore, it is important that elementary students form conceptual and procedural understanding of fractional numbers, allowing for advancement in mathematics. The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) instructional sequence of instruction has been shown to be an effective means of teaching conceptual understanding of fractional numbers. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of CRA with remedial multitiered systems of support (MTSS) Tier 2 instruction for teaching fraction concepts. Thirty-one fifth-grade students participated in two different Tier 2 interventions; one group received typical Tier 2 instruction with their general education teachers and the other received CRA instruction with the researchers. The researchers measured student performance using a pretest and posttest and found significant differences in progress favoring the CRA group. Results and implications are discussed.

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Based on Common Core Standards (2010), mathematics interventions should emphasize conceptual understanding of numbers and operations as well as fluency. For students at risk for failure, the concrete‐representational‐abstract (CRA) sequence and the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) have been shown effective in teaching computation with an emphasis on conceptual understanding. No studies have investigated the effects of CRA and SIM for teaching multiplication with regrouping. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to replicate and extend the literature, teaching subtraction and multiplication with regrouping using CRA and SIM. Three students receiving tier three mathematics interventions participated. A multiple‐probe across behaviors design was used to show a functional relation. All of the students demonstrated increases in fluency across all regrouping tasks.