Panel on special needs in research and instruction in whole number arithmetic

Many children have difficulties or problems with learning mathematics. While these difficulties or problems may occur at any stage in learners’ mathematical development, by far the most attention of researchers and practitioners goes to the domain of early and elementary mathematics and, more specifically, to the domain of whole number arithmetic (WNA). Even though the issues of diagnosis of and instruction for children with special mathematical learning needs are getting increasing research attention, research in this area is still lagging behind compared with other academic subjects such as reading. Hereafter, we list some major open questions for research and practice.