The impact of curricular adaptations and inclusive strategies on the mathematical performance of students with cognitive disabilities

Abstract

This review article analyzes the evidence on the impact of curricular adaptations and inclusive strategies on the mathematical performance of students with cognitive disabilities in primary and secondary education. A literature review protocol was developed with explicit eligibility criteria, searches in specialized databases, two-stage screening, standardized data extraction, quality assessment, and narrative and quantitative synthesis using effect size estimation and moderator analysis. The included studies show that adjusting objectives, content, sequences, and assessment, combined with explicit teaching, concrete-representational-abstract sequencing, universal design for learning, peer tutoring, and digital supports, produces significant improvements in accuracy, fluency, problem solving, and learning retention, with particularly robust effects on numbering and operations. The magnitude of the benefits depends on the intensity of the intervention, the fidelity of implementation, and the presence of distributed practice and continuous formative assessment, conditions that favor generalization to new tasks and contexts. It is concluded that curricular adaptations are the central mechanism for operationalizing mathematical inclusion, although research gaps remain in longitudinal follow-ups, cost-effectiveness, and equity analysis.