Adolescents’ Functional Numeracy Is Predicted by Their School Entry Number System Knowledge

David C Geary,Mary K Hoard,Lara Nugent,Drew H Bailey,Frank Krueger

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054651

David C Geary, Mary K Hoard + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054651

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Jan 30, 2013
Citations: 250	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Missouri, Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

One in five adults in the United States is functionally innumerate; they do not possess the mathematical competencies needed for many modern jobs. We administered functional numeracy measures used in studies of young adults’ employability and wages to 180 thirteen-year-olds. The adolescents began the study in kindergarten and participated in multiple assessments of intelligence, working memory, mathematical cognition, achievement, and in-class attentive behavior. Their number system knowledge at the beginning of first grade was defined by measures that assessed knowledge of the systematic relations among Arabic numerals and skill at using this knowledge to solve arithmetic problems. Early number system knowledge predicted functional numeracy more than six years later (ß = 0.195, p = .0014) controlling for intelligence, working memory, in-class attentive behavior, mathematical achievement, demographic and other factors, but skill at using counting procedures to solve arithmetic problems did not. In all, we identified specific beginning of schooling numerical knowledge that contributes to individual differences in adolescents’ functional numeracy and demonstrated that performance on mathematical achievement tests underestimates the importance of this early knowledge.

Highlights

A substantial number of adults have not mastered the mathematics expected of an eighth grader (22% in the U.S.) [1], making them functionally innumerate
The goal was to identify the key beginning of schooling basic quantitative competencies that contribute to seventh grade performance on these economically-relevant numeracy tests, while controlling for intelligence, working memory, in-class attentive behavior, and demographic factors that are predictive of mathematics learning and achievement [16,17]
Regression analyses indicated that scores on the number system knowledge variable remained predictive of functional numeracy (ß = 0.287, p,.0001), with simultaneous estimation of the control, intelligence, working memory, and in-class attentive behavior variables (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

A substantial number of adults have not mastered the mathematics expected of an eighth grader (22% in the U.S.) [1], making them functionally innumerate They are not qualified for many jobs in today’s economy and have difficulty with routine quantitative tasks [2]. Other studies suggest that sensitivity to the magnitudes of collections of objects may contribute to mathematics achievement [14] None of these studies provided an assessment of the relation between these basic quantitative competencies and later performance on functional numeracy measures. The goal was to identify the key beginning of schooling basic quantitative competencies that contribute to seventh grade performance on these economically-relevant numeracy tests, while controlling for intelligence, working memory, in-class attentive behavior, and demographic factors that are predictive of mathematics learning and achievement [16,17]

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion