The Need for Number Sense.

The article presents information on students who struggle with math difficulties or suffer from math disabilities, such as dyscalculia, in spite of average or above average intelligence. The author explains the importance of addresses math difficulties early on in a child's education in order to prevent future failure. She notes common characteristics among struggling students, including weak computational fluency and deficient number sense. She recommends that school screen for numeracy problems in kindergarten to the same extent that they screen for literacy problems. She describes a number-sense screening test she and colleagues have developed, which covers areas including counting skills, number knowledge, and story problems.