Improving Essential Numeracy Skills in Primary Schoolchildren Using a Brief Fluency-building Intervention: A Randomised Control Trial

Abstract

Numeracy skills are essential if children are to succeed academically. We investigated the efficacy of short fluency-building exercises to target a number of essential numeracy skills (writing digits and simple addition problems). We further wanted to ascertain whether such an intervention would impact their ability to solve related but unpractised subtraction problems. Children from two mainstream primary schools (aged 9-10) were allocated randomly to either a fluency-building intervention group (FBI; n = 19) or a control group (C; n = 10). The intervention group engaged in daily fluency-building practice that consisted of writing and reciting essential numeracy facts. The control group children received their standard instruction. The study took place over 5 weeks; following the intervention, the children in the FBI group performed significantly better (p < .05) on three of the four numeracy elements with large effect sizes (d = 1.25-1.67). Results are discussed in the context of incorporating simple essential skills fluency-building exercises into mainstream classes, and how the implementation need not be costly in terms of staff time or resources.