A yearlong classroom intervention for preschoolers decreased the achievement gap in numerical skills, according to a study. Previous studies have shown that young children from low-income families underperform on math tests, compared with high-income counterparts. Socioeconomic inequality in mathematical knowledge persists through elementary school and predicts later academic success in math and reading. Stephen Raudenbush and colleagues designed an intervention aimed at improving the performance of preschoolers on 12 core numerical and spatial skills. The participants included 350 predominantly low-income minority children between the ages of 3 and 5 years. The intervention involved training teachers to use individualized game-like tasks to assess the children's performance three times during the school year and tailoring instruction to the children based on their individual progress and educational needs. Scores on numerical and verbal comprehension tests administered at the end of the school year were higher for children who received instruction from the 24 trained teachers, compared with children who were randomly assigned to 25 control classrooms. Moreover, the intervention narrowed the achievement gap in numerical skills between children who were and were not growing up in poverty by approximately 45%. According to the authors, the study represents a step toward addressing socioeconomic inequality in math proficiency early in life.
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Article #20-02883: "Longitudinally adaptive assessment and instruction increase numerical skills of preschool children," by Stephen Raudenbush et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stephen Raudenbush, University of Chicago, IL; tel: 773-834-1904; e-mail: <sraudenb@uchicago.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences