Math Skills Research Articles

Attention to the integration of literacy: A systematic review of early math interventions in informal learning environments

AbstractLinks between the development of early literacy and math skills are well documented. This systematic review focuses on how literacy is incorporated into informal math intervention studies for children in preschool to third grade, which has implications for researchers and those training caregivers to support their children at home. We reviewed 51 experimental or quasi‐experimental studies published from 1981 to 2021 that investigated the effectiveness of math interventions in informal learning environments with a caregiver interventionist. Findings revealed that 100% of studies included literacy in some way. We also investigated what types of literacy activities were integrated, how literacy was a part of data sources collected, and in what ways literacy was mentioned explicitly by authors in research reports. The most common literacy activity was speaking and listening, and the most frequently included literacy data source was standardized literacy achievement measures. Finally, researchers in the included studies did not detail literacy throughout their research reports. While early math interventions often integrate literacy, the research base including math interventions would benefit from more explicit rationales for their use of literacy, and caregivers should be provided information to help understand how literacy should be a part of the way they work with their child on math at home.

Assessment of math abilities before school entry: a tool development

IntroductionThe years preceding school entry are pivotal for children to develop fundamental skills that bolster their learning in literacy and math in the following years. Skills like counting and subitizing stand as key predictors of future math abilities. Hence, the availability of universal screening tools is vital to promptly identify children who are lacking in these skills, allowing for tailored classroom practices to meet their needs. This study aimed to develop a mathematical screening tool and assess its psychometric properties.MethodsThe tool encompasses both group and individual tasks, to evaluate counting, cardinality, subitizing, quantity discrimination, addition, and subtraction. The tool was administered twice to 257 children, aged 5-6, in their final year of kindergarten in Portugal, at both the start and end of the school year.ResultsThe findings reveal that the tasks generally present a low level of difficulty, especially by the end of kindergarten. Factor analysis demonstrated an adequate structure, and all dimensions showed high internal consistency (>0.80). There was a medium-to-high intercorrelation among the various tasks. Correlations between task scores at the beginning and end of the school year were high. Furthermore, scores across all tasks correlated with math achievement in the first grade of primary education.DiscussionThese outcomes suggest that the tool is both valid and reliable, making it a useful resource for assessing and intervening in math skills during the critical years before school entry.

Blood lead levels and math learning in first year of school: An association for concern

Lead is a well-known neurotoxicant that continues to affect children's cognition and behavior. With the aim to examine the associations of lead exposure with math performance in children at the beginning of formal schooling, we conducted a cross-sectional study of first-grade students from 11 schools in Montevideo, Uruguay. Math abilities were assessed with tests from the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz (Calculation, Math Facts Fluency, Applied Problems, Math Calculation Skills and Broad Maths). Separate generalized linear models (GLM) tested the association of blood lead level (BLL) and each math ability, adjusting for key covariates including age and sex, maternal education, household assets and Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory score. In a complete-case of 252 first-grade students (age 67–105 months, 45% girls), mean ± SD blood lead level was 4.0 ± 2.2 μg/dL. Covariate-adjusted logistic models were used to examine the association between childhood BLLs and the odds of low math performance. BLL was negatively associated with scores on the Calculation test (β (95% CI): −0.18 (−0.33, −0.03)), Math Calculation Skills (−1.26 (−2.26, −0.25)), and Broad Maths cluster scores (−0.88 (−1.55, −0.21)). Similarly, performance on the Calculation test, as well as cluster scores for Broad Maths and Math Calculation Skills differed between children with BLLs <5 and ≥ 5 μg/dL (p < 0.01), being lower in children with higher BLLs. Finally, considering the likelihood of low test performance, each 1 μg/dL higher B–Pb was related to 27% higher likelihood for Maths Facts Fluency, 30% for Broad Math and Math Calculation Skills, and 31% for Calculation (p < 0.05). These results suggest that lead exposure is negatively associated with several basic skills that are key to math learning. These findings further suggest that the cognitive deficits related to lead exposure impact student achievement at very early stages of formal education.

Investigating the Consequences of Mathematics Quizzes on Student’s Attendance and Success in Mathematics at Higher Learning Institutions. A Case of Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA)

Professionals with knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are in greater demand worldwide. Many Institutes and University have reorganized education and encouraged training to improve workers' and students' math and science skills in order to successfully meet this criterion. The main objective of educational and training initiatives is to enhance participants' comprehension of math and science. Few things are known about the frequency and reasons behind students' absences from class, despite the fact that many college professors worry about student attendance. For this study, I examined class attendance, and I discovered that it declined from the start to the end of the semester. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of quizzes on students' attendance and math performance in higher education institutions. There is a clear pattern showing a direct correlation between math achievement and student attendance. Students who want to excel in their mathematics course need to establish productive study habits. For a duration of 14 weeks, students were split into two treatment groups and given instructions. Treatment group A completed simple quizzes for ten minutes at each session. The Treatment group B did not have access to the quizzes. Participants were given the quizzes for fourteen (14) weeks and questionnaires with closed-ended questions in order to collect data. The outcomes of the respondents' mathematics quizzes were used in the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected data. Overall, the results showed that mathematics quiz had a statistically significant (0.05-two tailed) impact on students' academic performance in the subject. The effects of math quiz and math performance are strongly positively correlated. When all other variables are held constant. Instructors can eliminate the need for oral reviews of course progress and encourage students to review their lecture notes in advance. They can also support their efforts to help students transition from rote memorization to in depth understanding through class discussion. The study came to the conclusion that students who took quizzes frequently did better on the final examination and had higher grades in the mathematics course. I recommend that, this strategy/ method of teaching can also be applied for other modules or academic courses in order to prove students’ ability.

Mathematical creativity in upper elementary school mathematics curricula

Textbooks should promote creative tasks for teachers to enhance students' math skills through creative thinking, instead of relying on memorization of step-by-step procedures.The aim of this study is to analyze elementary school mathematics curricula commonly employed in the U.S., namely GoMath, enVision Math, Math Connects, MyMath, and Investigations. The selection of these curricula is based on their widespread usage, and the analysis seeks to evaluate their effectiveness in fostering the development of students' creative thinking skills. We employed Bicer et al.'s (2021) framework for creativity-directed tasks to analyze 1,000 mathematical tasks within each curriculum. The analysis unveiled that Eureka, followed by Investigations, incorporated a higher proportion of creativity-directed tasks compared to the remaining three curricula. For some categories and subcategories of creativity-directed tasks (e.g., communication, connection), the results are less varied across five curricula. The present study enables school districts, schools, and classroom teachers to know what curricula support the development of creative thinking of students by including various options of creativity-directed tasks in their upper elementary mathematics textbooks.

Declarative memory supports children's math skills: A longitudinal study.

Substantial progress has been made in understanding the neurocognitive underpinnings of learning math. Building on this work, it has been hypothesized that declarative and procedural memory, two domain-general learning and memory systems, play important roles in acquiring math skills. In a longitudinal study, we tested whether in fact declarative and procedural memory predict children's math skills during elementary school years. A sample of 109 children was tested across grades 2, 3 and 4. Linear mixed-effects regression and structural equation modeling revealed the following. First, learning in declarative but not procedural memory was associated with math skills within each grade. Second, declarative but not procedural memory in each grade was related to math skills in all later grades (e.g., declarative memory in grade 2 was related to math skills in grade 4). Sensitivity analyses showed that the pattern of results was robust, except for the longitudinal prediction of later math skills when accounting for stable inter-individual differences via the inclusion of random intercepts. Our findings highlight the foundational role of early domain-general learning and memory in children's acquisition of math.

Working memory and math skills in children with and without ADHD.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently demonstrate deficits in working memory and in multiple domains of math skills, including underdeveloped problem-solving and computation skills. The Baddeley model of working memory posits a multicomponent system, including a domain-general central executive and two domain-specific subsystems-phonological short-term memory and visuospatial short-term memory. Extant literature indicates a strong link between neurocognitive deficits in working/short-term memory and math skills; however, the extent to which each component of working/short-term memory may account for this relation is unclear. The present study was the first to use bifactor (S·I-1) modeling to examine relations between each working/short-term memory subcomponent (i.e., central executive, phonological short-term memory, and visuospatial short-term memory), ADHD symptoms, and math skills in a clinically evaluated sample of 186 children ages 8-13 (Myears = 10.40, SD = 1.49; 62 girls; 69% White/non-Hispanic). Structural equation modeling indicated that all three working/short-term memory components exert a significant and approximately equal effect on latent math skills (β = .29-.50, all p < .05) and together explain 56% of the variance in children's math achievement (R² = .56). Exploratory analyses indicated that teacher-reported ADHD inattentive symptoms provided a small but significant contribution to predicting latent math skills (ΔR² = .07) and accounted for 24% of the central executive/math association. These findings suggest that math difficulties in children with ADHD and clinically evaluated children without ADHD are associated, in large part, with their neurocognitive vulnerabilities in working/short-term memory and, to a lesser extent, overt ADHD symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Language and math skills among post-secondary deaf students

The current study aimed to identify the level of language and math skills among deaf people who completed secondary education and compare them with those of hearing people in the school stage from the second to the seventh grade. To achieve the objectives of the study, two tests were designed, the first for linguistic skills (written expression and reading comprehension) and the second for math skills (math operations). Basic, first-degree equations (volume, area, angles, and units). Validity implications were extracted using content validity and discriminant validity of the two tests, as the two tests were able to distinguish between the age levels of the participants (by grade) and distinguish between hearing students and deaf students. Reliability coefficients also extracted using Cronbach's Alpha. The study conducted to a purposive sample of 155 people, including 45 deaf people who completed high school and 110 hearing people from grades 2-7 of both gender (male &amp; female). The results showed that the level of deaf people in language skills is equivalent to students in the second grade, and that their level in math skills is equivalent to the fifth grade. The results also indicated that there is a statistically significant difference in language skills among deaf people in favor of females, and that there are no statistically significant differences in the level of math skills among deaf people according to the gender variable.

Home food practices and Latino kindergarteners’ academic skills

Latino parents support children's academic skills through their involvement in daily living activities. Prior work has focused on conventional literacy (e.g., book reading) and numeracy activities (e.g., teaching numbers). Less-visible home activities that are high-priority, high-value cultural practices in Latino communities are food sharing (e.g., eating together) and food-related household chores (e.g., grocery shopping together). This study examined whether food sharing and food-related household chores contributed to children's academic skills beyond conventional literacy and numeracy activities, in a sample of 152 Latino parents from low-income households and their kindergarten children (M age = 67.24 months; 51.32% female). At the beginning of kindergarten, parents completed a home learning activities questionnaire and children's literacy and math skills were assessed. We found that food sharing, but not food-related household chores, positively related to children's literacy skills (vocabulary), beyond conventional literacy and numeracy activities. Food sharing and food-related household chores did not relate to children's math skills. Findings suggest the need to consider food sharing and food-related household chores as part of the constellation of Latino home learning activities that are likely to support children's academic skills.

Public Preschool Predicts Stronger Third-Grade Academic Skills

Public preschool boosts academic skills in kindergarten, but little is known about whether that boost lasts to third grade because many studies stop directly assessing children after kindergarten. The current study tests for sustained associations between preschool attendance and an array of repeatedly measured, directly assessed language and math skills; we do this separately for public pre-K and Head Start, the two major publicly funded preschool programs. We draw on a large, racially diverse sample of children from families with low incomes in Tulsa, OK (N = 689, Mage at 3rd = 8.5 years). Using propensity score weighting, we compare children who attended school-based pre-K or Head Start to those who did not attend preschool. Both school-based pre-K and Head Start attenders outperformed preschool nonattenders on numeracy in third grade. There was weaker evidence of a sustained preschool advantage on language and literacy skills, and no evidence that associations differed by preschool program.

Head Start Children’s Dual Enrollment in State Pre-K: Prevalence and Child Outcomes

The current study investigated the prevalence and outcomes related to Head Start (HS) children’s dual enrollment in state-funded prekindergarten (state Pre-K) using a secondary analysis of a statewide integrated administrative dataset (N = 2,986). It also explored whether a program partnership between HS and the local school district (within the same geographic service area) was associated with HS children’s higher enrollment in Pre-K. Findings showed that over half of the children attending HS additionally participated in Pre-K. Such dual enrollment, which reflects more daily hours of center-based early care and education, predicted higher teacher-reported school readiness skills, including cognitive, language, literacy, math, physical, and social-emotional skills. The rate of HS children’s dual enrollment was higher when their HS grantee had a stronger partnership with the local school district. Our findings highlight the importance of systematic efforts to maximize the utilization of ECE-allocated resources for low-income children.

Motor activities to improve maths performance in pre-school children with typical development.

Poor maths skills are associated with negative outcomes throughout life, such as lower academic qualifications, decreased professional success and socio-economic results. Mathematical skills emerge continuously throughout childhood and those that children acquire in pre-school are crucial for activities that support analytical thinking, problem-solving and reasoning and argumentation skills. Many of these activities are related to motor skills, since certain cognitive and motor areas of the brain are activated simultaneously when solving maths problems. Of all motor skills, visuomotor integration skills have been documented as those that are most consistently positively and significantly associated with maths performance in pre-school children. These skills are influenced by visual perception (spatial and attention skills), fine motor coordination and gross motor skills. Early intervention can improve visuomotor integration skills in pre-school children. Of all skills that make up visuomotor integration, spatial skills, in addition to being the first skills to influence numerical knowledge and the recognition of geometric shapes, are also those skills that form part of the majority of programs and activities to be worked on with pre-school children for the development of mathematical concepts. However, most intervention programs or activities to develop spatial skills are carried out in the classroom, usually through activities involving handling small objects. In this sense and given the significant association between visuomotor integration skills and gross motor skills, the main objective of this study was to list a set of activities to develop spatial skills, with a strong involvement of gross motor skills, in a classroom, playground or home context.

Examining the malleability of young children's flexible attention to numerical and spatial magnitudes

Math ability is critical to children's future school and career success, and prior studies show that flexible attention to magnitudes (FAM) predicts children's future math abilities over and above other early math skills. FAM broadly refers to the ability to switch flexibly between attending to different dimensions of magnitude (e.g., size and numerosity). In the current study, we created an intervention using number books to test, for the first time, the malleability of children's FAM ability. A randomized experiment was conducted with 116 preschool-age children (Mage = 55.6 months; 54.3 % female) to test our hypothesis that FAM ability is malleable and can be trained using number books. The intervention included four conditions to which children were randomly assigned: size-to-number, mixed, conventional counting, and non-numerical. The experimental conditions were size-to-number and mixed, while the conventional counting and non-numerical conditions served as controls. Consistent with our hypothesis, children significantly improved in FAM task performance from pre- to post-intervention within the experimental groups, but not within the control groups. Furthermore, children in the two experimental conditions combined significantly improved number line estimation scores from pre- to post-intervention, unlike the combined two control conditions. Implications of these findings on the development of future FAM interventions are discussed.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Nursing Students' Math Skills and Drug Dosage Calculation Performance

Giriş: İlaç uygulamaları, hasta güvenliği için yüksek düzeyde dikkat ve bilgi gerektirmektedir. İlaç uygulamalarında ilaçlar ile ilgili temel bilgilere sahip olmak ve ilaç tedavisini uygulamak hemşirelerin sorumluluğundadır. Amaç: Bu araştırmada öğrenci hemşirelerin matematik becerileri ile ilaç dozu hesaplama performansı arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Araştırmanın evrenini bir üniversitede öğrenim gören 2., 3., 4. sınıf ve yeni mezun hemşirelik bölümü öğrencileri oluşturmuştur (n=562). Online anket yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında araştırmacılar tarafından uzman görüşü alınarak hazırlanmış yapılandırılmış anket formu kullanılmıştır. Veriler Aralık 2020-Haziran 2021 tarihlerinde toplanmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesinde paket istatistik programı kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Matematik becerilerini yeterli gören öğrencilerin (%23.8) ilaç dozu hesaplama beceri testinden almış oldukları puanlar, matematik becerilerini yeterli görmeyen öğrencilere (%6.58) göre anlamlı olarak daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Matematik dersini zor bulan öğrenciler (%6.05) ilaç dozu hesaplama beceri testinden, bu dersi kısmen zor bulan öğrencilere (%25.4) göre anlamlı olarak daha düşük puan almıştır. Sonuç ve Öneriler: Öğrencilerin ilaç dozu hesaplama beceri testinden aldıkları puanlar, matematik becerilerine göre anlamlı değişiklik göstermiştir. Gelecekte yapılacak çalışmalarda, matematik becerilerinin geliştirilmesine paralel olarak, ilaç dozu hesaplamalarına yönelik eğitim grupları oluşturulması ve eğitim sonrası ilaç dozu hesaplama performansının incelenmesi değerli veriler elde edilmesine olanak sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir.

Analisis Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah Matematika Mahasiswa Berdasarkan Gender

This study aims to analyze students' math problem-solving skills based on gender. The subjects involved were 6 students of the Mathematics Education Department, where three of them were female and the rest were male. The instrument used is a description question on the topic of Three Variable Linear Equation System that adapted through PISA standard questions. The analytical tool used is the problem-solving stage introduced by Polya. The results showed that at the stage of understanding the problem, male students were more able to understand the questions and some of them were able to rewrite them based on their own words. At the stage of making a solution plan, all male subjects could make a mathematical model of the given problem as well as for two female subjects, while there was one female subject who was unable to make a mathematical model. At the stage of carrying out the plan, the three male subjects were again able to complete the plan properly, while the female subject still had difficulty solving the problems given. At the review stage, all male subjects had re-examined, while all female subjects did not reach this stage. In general, male subjects have better problem solving abilities than female subjects.

Analisis Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah Matematika Mahasiswa Berdasarkan Gender

This study aims to analyze students' math problem-solving skills based on gender. The subjects involved were 6 students of the Mathematics Education Department, where three of them were female and the rest were male. The instrument used is a description question on the topic of Three Variable Linear Equation System that adapted through PISA standard questions. The analytical tool used is the problem-solving stage introduced by Polya. The results showed that at the stage of understanding the problem, male students were more able to understand the questions and some of them were able to rewrite them based on their own words. At the stage of making a solution plan, all male subjects could make a mathematical model of the given problem as well as for two female subjects, while there was one female subject who was unable to make a mathematical model. At the stage of carrying out the plan, the three male subjects were again able to complete the plan properly, while the female subject still had difficulty solving the problems given. At the review stage, all male subjects had re-examined, while all female subjects did not reach this stage.

Pelaksanaan Kemampuan Matematika Awal Melalui Pemanfaatan Media Konkrit Pada Anak Kelompok B Di Tk Xaverius Kalianda

This research is motivated by the existence of conditions related to the early mathematical ability is still low. Therefore it is necessary an effort to improve the mathematical ability of children in group B in TK Xaverius Kalianda. This study aims to know that the use of concrete media in learning can improve early mathematical ability in children group B in TK Xaverius Kalianda. This study is a classroom action research consisting of four stages namely, planning, action implementation, observation and reflection. At the beginning of observation of early group math ability in TK Xaverius Kalianda still not developed, as indicator of low early child mathematics ability in kindergarten, this can be seen from 15 children of group B which have progressed development especially in the case of early mathematics only 3 children or 20%, and the rest as many as 12 children or 80% have not been able to develop properly. After the reflection through the use of concrete media there is an increase. The results of this study indicate that through the utilization of concrete media can improve the early mathematical ability of the previously not developed at the time of pre-survey to start developing in the first cycle reached 72% and developed as expected in the second cycle reached 82%. Thus the method of utilizing concrete media can be one of the methods or ways that can be used in learning, especially in improving early math skills.

The Role of New Media Technologies in Improving Communication Skills of Intellectual Disabled Individuals

The communication and social skills of individuals with mental disabilities are considerably behind their peers with normal development. These individuals’ educational needs vary depending on their distinct traits. There is an increasing need to improve communication skills in order to minimize the problems experienced by these mentally handicapped individuals in the family, at school, at all levels of social life, and in interpersonal relationships. Considering their characteristics, educational environments designed for these individuals should be set up in such a way that they can make full use of educational opportunities. Emerging from the application of computer and information-processing developments to the field of communication and starting to direct the relations between individuals with the use of the Internet and technological devices together, new media has also been introduced into educational environments, and changes have started to be seen in the educational processes of individuals with intellectual disabilities. New media technologies aim to optimize learning settings for students who show different developmental characteristics than their peers and learn differently from them. Educational environments where new media technologies are used as auxiliary materials provide these individuals the opportunity to learn individually in line with their own abilities and therefore improve the quality of education. New media technologies support the development of communication skills in individuals with mental disabilities, as well as their reading, writing, and math skills, according to their disability area. This study, in this regard, provides information on the development of communication skills in individuals with mental disabilities to socially integrate and conduct interpersonal interactions in a healthy way and offers suggestions for the use of new media tools to improve the communication skills of individuals with mental disabilities.

Urgensi Pelaksanaan Supervisi Akademik dalam Peningkatan Kompetensi Guru di Era Merdeka Belajar

Indonesia is ranked 74 out of 79 countries in terms of reading, science, and math skills. One of the factors for the low quality of education in Indonesia is the lack of teacher competence in preparing learning media and methods. In this 21st era, Indonesia has implemented an independent learning policy that frees teachers and students from choosing learning methods. One of the efforts that can be made to improve teacher competence is the implementation of academic supervision. The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of implementing academic supervision and the role of school principals in implementing academic supervision. The research was conducted using a meta-analysis that collected data and information from several studies. The findings of this study found that academic supervision activities are an effective tool for solving teacher problems and as a means of improving teacher competence. The role of the principal is very crucial as a supervisor in implementing academic supervision. The implementation of academic supervision goes through the stages of planning, implementation, and evaluation or follow-up.

Executive Functioning and Early Math Skills in Young Children at Risk for Mathematical Difficulties: Evaluation of Interventions Efficacy and Transfer Effects

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Executive Function (EF) and Early Math (EM) are foundational skills for children’s school success. Interventions have shown to foster these skills, but their effectiveness in less developed countries remains unknown. This study examined the initial efficacy of an eight-week EF and an EM skills program for young Iranian children at risk for mathematical difficulties. Participants included 88 five- to six-year-old children who were randomly assigned into three conditions: Business-As-Usual (BAU) control group, EF training group, or an EM training group. The experimental groups received 24 sessions over two months. In the EF group, children had significantly higher working memory and planning scores at posttest, which were stable five months later. No significant group difference was found on inhibitory control. In the EM group, children demonstrated stronger math performance compared to BAU children at the posttest and follow-up, suggesting stable math improvement. There was no significant effect of EF training on math performance or significant effect of math training on EF skills. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest that the EF training was related to stronger EF and EM training was related to better math performance. However, there were no significant transfer effects of EF on math and vice versa.