In order for schools to help students with learning difficulties and disabilities improve their achievement in mathematics, educators, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers need a better understanding of the evidence based on what is behind these students' difficulties in learning math. That is just what they will get with this landmark book-- the first and only definitive research volume on this important topic in education. Comprehensive and multidisciplinary, this resource gives educational decisionmakers and researchers in-depth theoretical and practical insight into mathematical learning difficulties and disabilities, combining diverse perspectives from fields such as special education, educational psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral genetics. More than 35 internationally known contributors share their expertise on: risk factors for developing difficulties with math; connections between mathematics and reading disabilities; neuropsychological factors in mathematical learning disabilities; information processing deficits; individual difference factors in mathematics difficulties, including the influences of motivation, gender, and socio-cultural background; math anxiety; the role of genetics; and effective instructional interventions. Based on the most current research available, this highly informative book gives readers the foundation they need to advance research, teaching strategies, and policies that identify struggling students-- and to begin developing appropriate practices that really help these students improve their math skills. This book divides into three parts, six sections, and nineteen chapters, as follows: PART I, contains: Section I: Characterizing Learning Disabilities in Mathematics; (1) Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Mathematics Disabilities (Russell Gersten, Ben Clarke, and Michele M.M. Mazzocco; (2) Defining and Differentiating Mathematical Learning Disabilities and Difficulties (Michele M.M. Mazzocco); and (3) Prevalence of Developmental Dyscalculia (Ruth S. Shalev). SECTION II: Cognitive and Information Processing Features. Contains: (4) Information Processing Deficits in Dyscalculia (Brian Butterworth and Vivian Reigosa Crespo); (5) Strategy Use, Long-Term Memory, and Working Memory Capacity (David C. Geary, Mary K. Hoard, Lara Nugent, and Jennifer Byrd-Craven); (6) Do Words Count? Connections between Mathematics and Reading Difficulties (Nancy C. Jordan); (7) Individual Differences in Proportional Reasoning: Fraction Skills (Steven A. Hecht, Joseph K. Torgesen, and Kevin J. Vagi); and Cognitive Aspects of Math Disabilities: Commentary on Section II (H. Lee Swanson). PART II, SECTION III: Neuropsychological Factors, contains: (8) Mathematical Development in Children with Specific Language Impairments (Chris Donlan); (9) The Contribution of Syndrome Research to Understanding Mathematics Learning Disability (Michele M. M. Mazzocco, Melissa M. Murphy, and Michael McCloskey); (10) Mathematical Disabilities in Congenital and Acquired Neurodevelopmental Disorders (Marcia A. Barnes, Jack M. Fletcher, and Linda Ewing-Cobbs); (11) Cognitive and Behavioral Components of Math Performance in ADHD Students (Sydney S. Zentall); (12) Neuropsychological Case studies on Arithmetic Processing (Laura Zamarian, Alex Lopez-Rolon, and Margarete Delazer); and Neuropsychological Factors in Math Disabilities: Commentary on Section III (Rebecca Bull). SECTION IV: Neurobiological and Genetic Substrates, contains: (13) Neuroanatomical Approaches to the Study of Mathematical Ability and Disability (Tony J. Simon and Susan M. Rivera); and (14) Quantitative Genetics and Mathematical Abilities/Disabilities (Stephen Petrill and Robert Plomin). PART III, SECTION V: Additional Influences on Math Difficulties, contains: (15) Is Math Anxiety a Mathematics Learning Disability? (Mark H. Ashcraft, Jeremy A. Krause, and Derek R. Hopko); and (16) Influences of Gender, Ethnicity, and Motivation on Mathematics Performance (James M. Royer and Rena Walles). SECTION VI: Instructional Interventions, contains: (17) Early Intervention for Children at Risk of Developing Mathematical Learning Difficulties (Sharon Griffin); (18) Mathematical Problem Solving: Instructional Interventions (Lynn S. Fuchs and Douglas Fuchs); (19) Quantitative Literacy and Developmental Dyscalculias (Michael McCloskey); and Instructional Interventions/Quantitative Literacy: Commentary on Section VI (Herbert Ginsburg and Sandra Pappas).