A longitudinal study on predictors of early calculation development among young children at risk for learning difficulties

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore domain-general cognitive skills, domain-specific academic skills, and demographic characteristics that are associated with calculation development from first through third grade among young children with learning difficulties. Participants were 176 children identified with reading and mathematics difficulties at the beginning of first grade. Data were collected on working memory, language, nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, decoding, numerical competence, incoming calculations, socioeconomic status, and gender at the beginning of first grade and on calculation performance at 4 time points: the beginning of first grade, the end of first grade, the end of second grade, and the end of third grade. Latent growth modelling analysis showed that numerical competence, incoming calculation, processing speed, and decoding skills significantly explained the variance of calculation performance at the beginning of first grade. Numerical competence and processing speed significantly explained the variance of calculation performance at the end of third grade. However, numerical competence was the only significant predictor of calculation development from the beginning of first grade to the end of third grade. Implications of these findings for early calculation instructions among young at-risk children are discussed.

Frequency of Home Numeracy Activities Is Differentially Related to Basic Number Processing and Calculation Skills in Kindergartners

“…The TediMath is a valid tool that discriminates between different levels of mathematical performance. Furthermore, it is a reliable instrument that the subtests the TediMath have a Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.70 to 0.99 ( Desoete and Grégoire, 2006 ). The first subtest comprised of six pictorially presented single digit (numbers ranging from 2 to 7) addition ( n = 3) and subtraction ( n = 3) calculation questions.…”

Innate or Acquired? – Disentangling Number Sense and Early Number Competencies

“…A deficient number sense is most frequently related to DD (according to Mazzocco and Thompson, 2005 ), and correlations between ANS acuity and math proficiency apparently exist prior to mathematical education ( Mazzocco et al, 2011 ; Libertus et al, 2013a ) and ANS has a predictive role for math performance in young children ( Wong et al, 2017 ). Analogous to evidence for healthy math development (e.g., Bailey et al, 2014 ), numerical competence (commonly considered to be domain-specific) of at-risk children uniquely predicts math performance during elementary school even when controlling for domain-general skills ( Peng et al, 2016b ). By contrast, in adults, DD primarily reflects domain-general fact retrieval deficits and weak phonological processing via an impaired association between both ( De Smedt and Boets, 2010 ).…”

“…Especially with regard to procedural knowledge, evidence on DD is still in need. To our knowledge, only three studies have specifically addressed calculation development (reflecting procedural knowledge) in DD in comparison with healthy controls using longitudinal data so far (according to Peng et al, 2016b ). Of these, Alloway (2009) found a correlation between working memory (but not intelligence) and calculation, but without controlling for other variables such as verbal skills or executive functions.…”

“…In a broader approach, Namkung and Fuchs (2016) found processing speed and attention to predict later calculation expertise in DD, whereas language skills did not explain additional variance. The only study we identified ( Peng et al, 2016b ) that addressed this matter with data from elementary school (i.e., early math development) suggests that…”

Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio del IPAM en Escolares de Tercer Curso de Primaria

“…Las medidas basadas en el currículo (CBM, por sus siglas en inglés, curriculum based measurement) han demostrado ser adecuadas para establecer diferencias en el desempeño académico entre los estudiantes (Foegen, Jiban, & Deno, 2007;Gersten et al, 2012;Jitendra, Dupuis, & Zaslofsky, 2014), lo que facilita la detección temprana de estudiantes en riesgo de presentar dificultades de aprendizaje en el área de las matemáticas (Lembke & Foegen, 2009;Peng et al, 2016;Sasanguie et al 2013;Sisco-Taylor, Fung, & Swanson, 2015). Un gran número de herramientas basadas en el sentido numérico han demostrado poseer un potencial adecuado para la evaluación del logro académico en esta área Jordan et al, 2010;Lembke & Foegen, 2009;Schneider et al, 2016).…”