A comparative study of variations in arithmetic fluency between Norwegian and Finnish third graders

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate variations in addition and subtraction fluency by observing grade three students in Norway (n = 253, M age = 8.38 y.) and Finland (n = 209, M age = 9.35 y.) while controlling for their age and non-verbal reasoning. Gender differences were also examined. The focus of the study was on the performance of the low-achieving (LA) students in comparison to the typically achieving (TA) group, not neglecting differences in how early educational support was organised across the two countries. Two-minute speed tests in both addition and subtraction within the 1-20 number range were used to assess fluency. The Finnish students outperformed students in the Norwegian sample both in addition and subtraction fluency. There were more Norwegian students in the LA group (i.e. performance at or below the 25 th percentile) in both addition (37.9% vs. 20.1%) and subtraction (39.1% vs. 15.8%). In comparison to the TA students, the LA students made more errors and skipped over more arithmetic tasks in an attempt to solve them. Observed differences are discussed in relation to both country characteristics concerning early mathematics education and early educational support.

Long-term relevance and interrelation of symbolic and non-symbolic abilities in mathematical-numerical development: Evidence from large-scale assessment data

“…In addition, we also observed a sex effect favoring boys on symbolic and non-symbolic numerical abilities as well as grade 3 mathematical achievement. This is in line with some previous studies in which boys outperformed girls on early mathematical achievement (e.g., Funderud et al, 2019), but it is in contrast to another set of studies suggesting that there are (not yet) sex differences in early numerical abilities / mathematical achievement (e.g., Kersey et al, 2018;Matthews et al, 2009) or reporting sex differences in favor of girls (e.g., Strand, 1999).…”