Objective and theoretical background. This study is situated within the field of “learning problems” in primary education. According to Dumont (1994) two types of problems can be distinguished: a learning disability is situated in the child’s own cognitive development whereas the cause of a learning difficulty is situated outside the child or in another problem in the child. Although the prevalence of reading problems on the one hand and mathematics learning problems on the other hand seems to be equal (Desoete, Roeyers, & De Clercq, 2004; Ruijssenaars, van Luit, & van Lieshout, 2006), the amount of research in both fields does not reflect this finding. Far more research is conducted in the field of reading, while the field of mathematics remains underexposed (Ginsburg, 1997). Therefore, this study tries to tackle this shortcoming and focuses on “mathematics learning difficulties”. Taken into account that interventions should take place at an early stage (Van Luit & Schopman, 2000; Dowker, 2004), we focus on primary education. More precisely, the study focuses on instructional and didactical processes as an exogenous variable that might explain the emergence of children’s learning difficulties in mathematics. In this context, the study will especially centre on the commercially available learning packages (CALP: manuals and exercise books used in classroom) that have been implemented in primary education since school books are a recognized neglected area within educational research and given the influence of CALPs on teacher activities (de Jong, 1986; van den Heuvel – Panhuizen, 1998). Existing research to the relationship between the CALPs and pupil’s mathematics performance results has been restricted to a relationship between the structure of a CALP’s subject matter and pupil’s mathematics performance results (Gravemeijer, van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, van Donselaar, Reusink, Streefland, Vermeulen, te Woerd & van der Ploeg, 1993). By doing so, teacher perceptions and the nature of teaching remain underexposed (Gravemeijer et al., 1993; de Jong, 1986). This study wants to tackle those shortcomings by examining (a) the structure of a CALP’s subject matter, (b) teacher perceptions and (c) the nature of teaching. Aim of the study. The relationship is analysed between didactics of mathematics, mathematics performance results, the inventory of mathematics learning difficulties and the CALPs (manuals and exercise books) used in the specific setting of the teachers involved in the present study. This should enable to raise issues about the way a specific CALP is part of the complex set of variables that is related to the emergence of perceived learning difficulties.

Semi-structured questionnaire. In order to examine teacher perceptions, a semi-structured questionnaire was developed. More than 730 teachers from all grades (1-6) in primary education answered the questionnaire. All schools were located in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium and the sample is representative for education in Flanders. Lesson observations. During the period February 2008 – May 2008, about 150 lessons will be observed and video-taped in order to analyse the nature of teaching. Content analysis. A resonance group of professionals will analyse the CALPs about their content on several domains in mathematics like fractions and percentages.

With regard to teacher perceptions measured by the semi-structured questionnaire, results reveal that fractions, doing divisions and most problem solving-topics are difficult for pupils according to their teachers. We also observe a partial level of agreement and some disagreement between the quantitative findings in a 2002 sample study about mathematics learning performance in primary education (Ministry of the Flemish Community, Department of Education, 2002) and the perceptions of primary school teachers measured by the semi-structured questionnaire. Results about the nature of teaching and about the content analysis of the most frequently used CALPs will be available by the end of August. The results about teacher perceptions, the nature of teaching and the content analysis of the CALPs taken as a whole, should enable to raise issues about the way a specific CALP is part of the complex set of variables that is related to the emergence of perceived learning difficulties.