Teaching Place Value Concepts and Their Application Using the Concrete-Representational-Abstract Integrated Sequence

This study examined the effects of the concrete-representational-abstract integrated sequence (CRA-I) on teaching place value concepts and their application. The research questions addressed the extent to which CRA-I changed student performance in (a) completing equations that required subtraction with regrouping in the tens place, (b) completing equations that required subtraction with regrouping in the tens and hundreds place, (c) rounding three-digit numbers to the nearest ten or hundred, and (d) using multiple equations to decompose three-digit numbers. Four students in the fourth grade participated. Three students were eligible for services under learning disabilities (LD) or other health impairments (OHI); two students were English language learners. Employing a single-case multiple-probe-across-behaviors design, a functional relation was found between CRA-I and behaviors associated with number concepts. Implications will be discussed.