Conservation—a Meaningful Gauge for Assessment

Abstract

Piaget's work on number conservation and one-to-one correspondence has had a valuable impact on teachers' understandings of the development of mathematics concepts in young children. However, a potential misapplication is the tendency to use Piaget's tasks of conservation of number and one-to-one correspondence as a sort of “entrance exam” into classroom number work. Whereas children who can conserve participate fully in classroom number activities, non-conservers may receive no mathematics instruction at all. Or, they may passively observe instruction that is beyond their abilities while teachers wait for conservation to occur. This article proposes that teachers should examine the elements of mathematical understandings that precede conservation and one-to-one correspondence and tailor classroom instruction to benefit both conserving and nonconserving students.