Math Development Research Articles

Math Abilities Among Children with Neurodevelopmental Difficulties: Understanding Cognitive Factors and Evaluating a Pilot Intervention.

Math development in children relies on several underlying cognitive functions, including executive functions (EF), working memory (WM), and visual-motor abilities, such as visual-motor integration (VMI). Understanding how these cognitive factors contribute to children's math performance is critical to supporting math learning and long-term math success. The present quasi-experimental waitlist control study (N = 28) aimed to (a) examine the unique contributions of EF, WM, and VMI to math abilities among children ages 5-8 years old with neurodevelopmental difficulties; (b) determine whether a math intervention (the Mathematics Interactive Learning Experience; MILE) that supports these cognitive processes was effective when modified to be delivered to small groups in a school setting, and (c) examine whether any participant characteristics, such as age or IQ, were correlated with post-intervention math score changes. At baseline, participants' math scores were significantly below the normative mean in all math content areas (ps < .01). EF, WM, and VMI were highly correlated with math ability; however, verbal WM was the only unique predictor of math ability in regressions analysis. Compared to a waitlist control group, children in the immediate MILE intervention group achieved significantly greater math gains overall. When all children who ultimately completed the intervention were considered together, significant improvement was observed in more than half of math content areas. Furthermore, at the individual level, 85.7% of participants showed reliable change in at least one math content area. Implications for supporting math learning in children with neurodevelopmental difficulties are discussed.

“He’s Probably the Only Teacher I’ve Actually Learned From”: Marginalized Students’ Experiences With and Self-Perceptions of High School Mathematics

Understanding how marginalized students experience and perceive mathematics is critical to achieving the goal of inclusive and equitable math pedagogy. We report on 67 focus groups with 251 predominantly Black high schoolers experiencing economic marginalization in the Southern United States and attended to their achievement level and race-gender identities. Students often shared concerns about their teacher’s math knowledge for teaching and effectiveness in supporting academic success. Their self-perceptions of math identities varied, and students often did not value advanced math even when they expressed career interests that require advanced math. We discuss practical implications for supporting the math development of marginalized high schoolers, including centering the needs and strengths of Black girls, and propose an expanded inclusive and equitable pedagogical framework.

Improving children’s learning in developing countries: what works and what doesn’t

Policymakers in low- and middle-income countries have been successful in getting children to school. However, spending more time in school has not led to the development of age-appropriate math and language skills. In contrast to earlier full-length systematic reviews, we will briefly summarize key findings and challenges from the education literature in development economics targeting this article towards non-specialists. Two findings emerge from our review: one, given the complementarities in educational inputs, we need policy interventions that target multiple inputs in a child production function to have the greatest impact on learning outcomes. Two, interventions that target teacher effort and student effort together appear to have the greatest promise in being able to facilitate learning among children.

Effectiveness of basic gymathics as a math development program in the maritime curriculum

Effectiveness of basic gymathics as a math development program in the maritime curriculum

A Window into Early Math Development: An Observational Study of Skills and Strategies

A Window into Early Math Development: An Observational Study of Skills and Strategies

Research And Developing Mathematics Knowledge Child Development Perspectives, 2022

Proficiency in mathematics is critical to success academically, economically, and in life. Greater success in math is related to entering and completing college, earning more in adulthood, and making more optimal decisions concerning health. Knowledge of math begins to develop at a young age, and this early knowledge matters: Knowledge of math at or before school entry predicts outcomes in math and reading across primary and secondary school. More than one children struggle to learn math. For example, only 60% of fourth-grade and 55% of eighth-grade students in the United States performed at or above proficiency in math on the 2020 National Assessment of Educational Progress, and proficiency rates were even lower for African-American and Hispanic children and for children from low-income homes. More than one students do not master challenging math content. Developing strong knowledge about mathematics is important for success academically, economically, and in life, but more than one children fail to become proficient in math. Research on the developmental relations between conceptual and procedural knowledge of math provides insights into the development of knowledge about math. First, competency in math requires children to develop conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and procedural flexibility. Second, conceptual and procedural knowledge often develop in a bidirectional, iterative fashion, with improvements in one type of knowledge supporting improvements in the other, as well as procedural flexibility. Third, learning techniques such as comparing, explaining, and exploring promote more than one type of knowledge about math, indicating that each is an important learning process. Researchers need to develop and validate measurement tools, devise more comprehensive theories of math development, and bridge more between research and educational practice.

Development and assessment of MyAccessible Math: promoting self-learning for students with vision impairment

Development and assessment of MyAccessible Math: promoting self-learning for students with vision impairment

Focus on the Assessment Concerns of In-service and Pre-service Mathematics Teachers

Evaluation in mathematics is an inherent part of the discipline. In the current study, issues in the assessment of mathematics that concern MTs and S-MTs are studied. The basic assumption for this study is that improving teachers’ ability to deal with the challenges of assessment necessitates examining whether those issues are essential or technical. We first identified assessment issues that concern teachers and student teachers and then defined them as essential or technical difficulties. Sample questions included: What concerns do elementary and middle school MTs and S-MTs have with respect to student assessment, particularly with respect to alternative assessment methods? To what degree do these concerns represent essential or technical difficulties? At what frequency do elementary and middle school MTs and S-MTs encounter these difficulties? We found three main concerns – validity and reliability of exams; heterogeneity of the evaluated students; knowledge and achievements as reflected in the evaluation. The found that teachers seek solutions to practical assessment concerns and aspire to professional and credible evaluations that contribute to the students’ math development.

Foundations for future math achievement: Early numeracy, home learning environment, and the absence of math anxiety

BackgroundMathematics achievement is pivotal in shaping children's future prospects. Cognitive skills (numeracy), feelings (anxiety), and the social environment (home learning environment) influence early math development. MethodA longitudinal study involved 85 children (mean age T1 = 6.4 years; T2 = 7.9) to explore these predictors holistically. Data were collected on early numeracy skills, home learning environment, math anxiety, and their impact on various aspects of math. ResultsThe study found that early numeracy skills, home learning environment, and math anxiety significantly influenced math school achievement. However, they affected written computation, sequences, and comparisons differently. Early numeracy skills strongly predicted overall achievement and comparison subtest performance. ConclusionThese findings underscore the substantial role of math anxiety and home learning environment in children's math achievement. The study emphasizes the need to consider the selective impacts of these factors in future research, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of mathematics achievement determinants.

Parental early math support: The role of parental knowledge about early math development

Parents vary substantially in the frequency and complexity of the math support that they provide to their children, and this variability is often related to their children's math knowledge. We hypothesized that parents' knowledge about the development of two critical early math topics would help explain some of this variability in their early math support. U.S. parents of 3- and 4-year-olds (N = 196 mothers and 148 fathers, 94% identified as the child's primary caregiver and 77% as White; 79% had at least a bachelor's degree) reported on their knowledge about the development of early numeracy and repeating patterning skills, numeracy and repeating patterning beliefs related to their children, numeracy and repeating patterning support, and education, income, and employment status via a survey. Parents’ knowledge about early repeating patterning development was positively related to all the measured child-specific repeating patterning beliefs and both were predictive of the frequency and complexity of their reported repeating patterning support. Their knowledge about early numeracy development was also positively related to most of their child-specific numeracy beliefs, but while their child-specific numeracy beliefs uniquely predicted their reported numeracy support, their knowledge did not. Parents’ knowledge about early numeracy and repeating patterning development was not consistently related to their education, income, nor employment status, but their education and employment status uniquely predicted their numeracy and repeating patterning support. Implications of these findings for research, theory, and parent-based interventions are discussed.

Unlocking Math Skills: The Argeo Math App for Enhanced Mathematical Problem-Solving

This study aimed to design and evaluate the effectiveness of "Argeo Math," a novel learning media application, in improving mathematical problem-solving abilities in elementary school students. Employing a research and development (R&amp;D) methodology with a limited trial stage, the research examined the feasibility, practicality, and impact of Argeo Math on student performance. Positive validation results affirmed the potential of Argeo Math. Material experts awarded the application a score of 55 (84.6%), while media experts gave it an overall score of 81 (90%). The effectiveness testing demonstrated significant differences between classes using Argeo Math and those using traditional methods. Students utilizing Argeo Math achieved an average score of 78.03%, while those in the control group scored 11.36%. This represents a substantial improvement of 66.67% in problem-solving skills. Additionally, the practicality assessment categorized Argeo Math as "highly practical," with a score of 76.03%. The novelty of this research lies in the development and evaluation of Argeo Math, a unique application specifically designed to enhance elementary students' mathematical problem-solving abilities. The positive findings suggest that Argeo Math holds significant potential as a valuable tool for improving mathematical performance and fostering a deeper understanding of problem-solving strategies in elementary education

Lessons from a preschool intervention study carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic

The article describes how a series of adaptions enabled us to carry out a controlled intervention study in 15 preschools, with 420 children and about 40 preschool teachers, during the Covid‑19 pandemic restrictions. The original overarching aim of the study was to develop and evaluate an early math intervention supporting children from low-SES environments to develop basic mathematical skills. The two main research questions addressed preschool children’s early math development using a digital play-&amp;-learn game (anonymized), and the pedagogical impact of an integrated teacher resources package. Four guiding principles complemented the research questions: accumulation of new knowledge, collaboration &amp; participatory design, experimental control &amp; ecological validity, and real-world applicability. The focus of this article is on how data collections methods and analyses were adapted to handle the constraints induced by Covid‑19 without deviating from the original research questions and the four guiding principles. The adaptions clearly entailed methodological limitations. Yet the study demonstrates the possibility to conduct a remotely controlled effect study encompassing both ecological validity and real-world applicability

Developing and validating a measure of parental knowledge about early math development.

Parents' knowledge about the math skills that most preschool-aged children can develop might be an important component of the Home Math Environment (HME) as it might shape their math beliefs and efforts to support their preschoolers' math development. This study aimed to systematically develop measures of parents' knowledge about two critical early math topics, numeracy, and patterning, across five studies conducted with a total of 616 U.S. parents of 3- to 5-year-olds (66% mothers, 54% sons, 73% White, 60% college-educated). Parents were recruited via CloudResearch or a university database. Study 1 focused on item generation to revise a previous measure to capture a wider set of children's early math skills and analysis of the psychometric properties of the measure after it was completed by 161 parents via a survey. Study 2 included an analysis of a new sample of parents (n = 21) who responded to the measures twice across two weeks to explore test-retest reliability. The measures were iteratively revised, administered to new samples, and analyzed in Studies 3 (n = 45), 4 (n = 46), and 5 (n = 344). The measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency and validity (construct, convergent, and discriminant) in Study 5 such as being positively related to parents' numeracy and patterning beliefs about their children. Overall, the newly developed measures satisfy standards for the development of an adequate measure and can be used to better understand what parents know about early math development and how this relates to the HME that they facilitate.

Relationship between fine/gross motor skills and language and math development in Colombian Caribbean children: A study in Barranquilla

AbstractLiterature suggests that motor skills are associated with other areas of development or domains, such as language and math, especially at early ages. These results are mainly based on studies developed in medium‐to‐high sociocultural contexts. Thus, this study was conducted in a medium‐to‐low‐income area. The aim was to know the 4–5 years old children's motor development (both fine and gross motor skills), and its relation to language and mathematical development. A total of 219 Colombian Caribbean children (105 boys and 114 girls) aged 4 and 5 years participated in this study. Results revealed higher motor skills among girls, although differences by gender were not notable. Positive and significant correlations were found between motor skills and language and mathematical skills, although most of the correlations were weak or moderate. Also, it was observed that fine motor skills were less related to language or mathematical development in comparison with gross motor skills, especially among boys. These results suggest that among Colombian Caribbean children gross motor skills could have a higher influence on the development and acquisition of some language and mathematical skills in comparison with fine motor skills.

Longitudinal association between non-symbolic numerical representation and emerging math competence: The dynamic mediation effect from cardinal knowledge to ordinal skills

To explore the longitudinal associations among non-symbolic numerical representation, mapping skills (i.e., cardinal principal knowledge and ordinal skills) and emerging math competence, a sample of 3-year-old (n = 106) and 4-year-old (n = 110) Chinese children were monitored for one year, from the beginning of the fall semester of the first year to the beginning of the second year. Math competence, non-symbolic numerical representation, cardinal knowledge, and ordinal skills were measured three times in total, with an interval of six months. Latent growth curve model showed that non-symbolic numerical representation and mapping skills prospectively predicted the initial level of emerging math performance, while only cardinal knowledge could predict the development of math for 3-year-old children, and only ordinal skills could predict the growth of math for 4-year-old children. Furthermore, the association between non-symbolic numerical representation and math competence was longitudinally mediated by cardinal-knower level in 3.5-year-old children and ordinal skills in 4.5-year-old children. These findings provide pathways in which the non-symbolic numerical representation serves as a platform for the growth of emerging math competence by understanding the meaning of symbolic numbers not only of ‘how much’ (cardinality) but also of ‘which position’ (ordinality).

Association between motor and math skills in preschool children with typical development: Systematic review.

Mathematics has been the subject in which many school-age children have revealed many difficulties. Research carried out in an attempt to understand the causes of failure in this area pointed to a positive association between mathematical performance and motor performance. Given the importance of math development in future school outcomes, knowing which specific motor components are most associated with math performance can help educators define better strategies for teaching mathematics. In this sense, the present systematic review study aimed to identify the components of motor skills most positively associated with mathematical performance in children with typical development who attend preschool. The PRISMA methodology (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was used in this study. The databases searched were ERIC, PubMED, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 2,909 articles were identified, of which 18 were included in this systematic review. The main results showed positive associations between fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, and mathematical performance. The math skill of numerical counting was the most associated with FMS. The main characteristics of the instruments used showed that the tasks of copying figures or drawings are the most used to assess visuomotor integration and the tasks of handling objects with pinch-like movements are the most used to assess fine motor coordination. Given the importance of mathematical performance in future school results, identifying early children with difficulties in fine motor skills will help educators to design better strategies for teaching mathematical skills. In this sense, the need to identify instruments to assess fine motor skills in preschool children with characteristics that facilitate their administration by the educator in the classroom context, i.e., requiring little administration time, not requiring much experience or training, the possibility of being administered to the group/class, few material resources, and the results can be easily interpreted, classified, and associated with mathematical performance.

Early learning attainments of children of naturalized citizens of refugee backgrounds in the sub‐Saharan region: Evidence from Tanzania

AbstractResearch has consistently indicated that children of naturalized citizens from refugee backgrounds lag in most indicators of development. The disparities are more nuanced in contexts with limited educational resources, such as the sub‐Saharan region of Africa. However, that is not the case with children of naturalized citizens from refugee backgrounds of Burundian origin living in Tanzania. The early learning attainment of these children is comparable to children from more advantaged urban majority groups. In this article, I discuss the role of the home learning environment and families' socioeconomic status in children's development of early math and reading skills by linking global and local perspectives. Challenges facing children from this group in Tanzania include issues related to curriculum, cultural practices and parental beliefs, mastery of Kiswahili, and the quality of teachers in the early grades. In light of the evidence, I argue for improvements in learning experiences and recommend research to inform policy and improve practice.

Dynamics between reading and math proficiency over time in secondary education – observational evidence from continuous time models

AbstractIntroductionReading and math proficiency are assumed to be crucial for the development of other academic skills. Further, different studies found reading and math development to be related. We contribute to the literature by looking at the relationship between reading and math using continuous time models. In contrast to previous studies, this allows us to (a) report estimates for autoregressive and cross-lagged effects for a range of possible time intervals while still only estimating one set of continuous time parameters and (b) identify peak effects for the relationship between the two. Using data from Starting Cohort 3 of the National Educational Panel Study, we find, in line with previous evidence, a larger effect of reading on math than the other way around. Furthermore, we identify peak standardized cross-lagged effects ($${a}_{reading\to math}\approx 0.30$$,$${a}_{math\to reading}\approx 0.13$$) for a time interval of approximately 6 months.

Can this data be saved? Techniques for high motion in resting state scans of first grade children

Motion remains a significant technical hurdle in fMRI studies of young children. Our aim was to develop a straightforward and effective method for obtaining and preprocessing resting state data from a high-motion pediatric cohort. This approach combines real-time monitoring of head motion with a preprocessing pipeline that uses volume censoring and concatenation alongside independent component analysis based denoising. We evaluated this method using a sample of 108 first grade children (age 6–8) enrolled in a longitudinal study of math development. Data quality was assessed by analyzing the correlation between participant head motion and two key metrics for resting state data, temporal signal-to-noise and functional connectivity. These correlations should be minimal in the absence of noise-related artifacts. We compared these data quality indicators using several censoring thresholds to determine the necessary degree of censoring. Volume censoring was highly effective at removing motion-corrupted volumes and ICA denoising removed much of the remaining motion artifact. With the censoring threshold set to exclude volumes that exceeded a framewise displacement of 0.3 mm, preprocessed data met rigorous standards for data quality while retaining a large majority of subjects (83 % of participants). Overall, results show it is possible to obtain usable resting-state data despite extreme motion in a group of young, untrained subjects.

Math for 2s and 3s: The impact of parent-child math activities on parents’ beliefs and behaviors and young children's math skill development

Mathematics knowledge and skills are critical for success in school and beyond. Professional interest in the role parents play in young children's math development has been increasing, but there is still relatively little rigorous research on this topic, especially for children younger than 4 years old and as compared with research on parents’ role in literacy development. This study provided parents of 2- and 3-year-old children with a 12-week series of simple, fun math activities to do with their children and used a randomized controlled design to examine whether the program had effects on parents’ ideas and beliefs about math for young children, their math interactions with their children, and the children's learning outcomes. The sample consisted of 358 families who were randomly assigned to receive the early math activity program, which was delivered via text messaging, or not. Findings indicated that the program strengthened parents’ beliefs that math was important for young children, increased their engagement in math activities with their child (particularly while they were receiving the program), and enhanced children's skill in subitizing, a foundational early math concept. The program did not significantly affect children's skill levels in other math domains, parents’ own math self-efficacy, or parent and child outcomes not related to math.