The goal of this study was to evaluate immediate and delayed effects of a caregiver-implemented picture book intervention to support children's mathematical language and numeracy skills. Eightyfour 3-to 5-year-olds (M age = 4.14) were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 40) or active control (n = 44) conditions. Participants in the intervention condition received three researcher-designed picture books with embedded mathematical language content. The active control group received similar books without mathematical language content. All families were asked to read each book a total of four times over 4 weeks (a total of 12 reading sessions). Children were pretested, posttested, and delayed (8 weeks) posttested on mathematical language and numeracy. The intervention resulted in significant positive effects on mathematical language and numeracy at the posttest. At delayed posttest, the mathematical language effects were not statistically significant, but the numeracy effects persisted. However, when only examining the quantitative language items that aligned with the intervention, the effects of the intervention were significant at both immediate and delayed posttests. Findings suggest picture book interventions can have positive impacts on children's early skills.Educational Impact and Implications Statement Supporting children's mathematical language and numeracy development is important for their success in later mathematics. The findings from this study demonstrate that caregivers reading a set of books with embedded mathematical language to their children over the course of 4 weeks can have strong and persistent effects on children's mathematical language and numeracy skills.

This article synthesizes findings from an international virtual conference, funded by the United States National Science Foundation, focused on the home mathematics environment (HME). In light of inconsistencies and gaps in research investigating relations between the HME and children’s outcomes, the purpose of the conference was to discuss actionable steps and considerations for future work. The conference was composed of international researchers with a wide range of expertise and backgrounds. Presentations and discussions during the conference centered broadly on the need to better operationalize and measure the HME as a construct—focusing on issues related to child, family, and community factors, country and cultural factors, and the cognitive and affective characteristics of caregivers and children. Results of the conference and a subsequent writing workshop include a synthesis of core questions and key considerations for the field of research on the HME. Findings highlight the need for the field at large to use multi-method measurement approaches to capture nuances in the HME, and to do so with increased international and interdisciplinary collaboration, open science practices, and communication among scholars.

Some evidence suggests that the home numeracy environment (HNE) is related to children’s numeracy. Socioeconomic status (SES) and language minority status can also influence children’s HNE and numeracy. Limited HNE research focuses on dual language learners (DLLs). Using a sample of preschool-aged children ( n = 98) from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, we examined differences between Spanish-speaking DLLs’ ( n = 37) and monolingual English speakers’ ( n = 61) numeracy, differences in HNEs, and predictive role of HNE on numeracy. Using frequentist and Bayesian t tests, we found that numeracy was not significantly different between DLLs and monolingual English speakers when DLLs’ numeracy was measured in English or in both English and Spanish. However, DLLs’ Spanish numeracy was lower than monolingual English speakers’ English numeracy, t(96) = 2.10, p = .038, Bayes factors (BF10) = 1.51. HNE did not significantly predict either group’s numeracy regardless of assessment language. This study is an important step toward understanding DLLs’ HNE and numeracy.

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Este estudio describe la creación y validación de una prueba adaptativa y autoadministrada de vocabulario en español para estudiantes de kínder a octavo año básico.Usando un corpus de un millón de palabras,provenientes de textos escolares,se seleccionaron palabras de distinta frecuencia y dificultad. Se confeccionaron ítems siguiendo el formato del test PPVT que representa cada palabra mediante fotografías. Los distractores se originan aleatoriamente desde el mismo corpus. Se estableció la validez del constructo,concurrente y con consistencia interna. EVOC es un instrumento válido y confiable para evaluar vocabulario en español que permite adaptar las prácticas pedagógicas a las necesidades de los alumnos.

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The present study explores whether the relation between aspects of first-grade reading instruction and reading growth through eighth grade differed for Asian language minority (LM) children and native-English-speaking (NE) children. The sample consisted of 6,715 NEs and 242 Asian LMs, followed from first to eighth grade. Findings were as follows: (a) The relation between first-grade sounds/letters instruction and reading growth slightly differed for Asian LMs and NEs. For example, Asian LMs who received more sounds/letters instructional emphasis decelerated less through middle grades, and by eighth grade, performed on par with NEs. (b) The relation between first-grade meaning instructional emphasis and reading growth did not differ for the two groups. (c) NEs experienced more deceleration through middle grades. Implications and future directions are discussed.