This research examines students' ability to work with algebraic variables and their notations as a result of the type of instruction they received, and places their work on scales that illustrate its location on the continuum from arithmetic thinking to algebraic reasoning. It presents data from pre- and post-instruction clinical interviews administered to a sample of middle school students experiencing their first exposure to formal pre-algebra. Roughly half of the sample (N=15) was taught with an experimental curriculum emphasizing multiple representation skills while a comparable group (N=12) of students received traditional instruction. Analysis of the pre- and post-interviews indicate that students receiving a multiple representations curriculum are significantly more likely to show signs of algebraic reasoning than their traditionally taught peers when integrating variables into the equations they write. Additionally, they are also more likely to be able to act on a variable that is presented to them as part of a graphic representation. Contains 26 references. (Author)