Impact of Early Numeracy Training on Kindergarteners from Middle-Income Families

MELONI, CARLA;FANARI, RACHELE;Bertucci Andrea;Berretti Sara

2017-01-01

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of a supplemental early numeracy skills training program for typically developing middle-income pre-school and kindergarten children (age 4-5) enrolled in a standard educational program. Three conditions were compared: cooperative learning training; individual learning training; and no training (control group). Results showed that the scores of all groups increased significantly between pre-test and post-test, but no significant differences were found between the children exposed to additional training and the control group. This finding suggests that an intervention may not be more effective than good standard schooling with such young children, and that there is a need for further investigation in this area. In a follow-up analysis, the hypothesis that the effectiveness of an early math intervention is more apparent in low-ability children was tested. For children with low early math ability, performance in terms of early numerical competence before and after the intervention was compared to a control group of equally low early math ability kindergarteners. Results showed a significant difference between pre- and post-test in both the experimental and control groups, but the training group showed higher achievement with respect to the control group. This finding suggests that it may be important to carry out interventions on children with low-ability in early math competence, even in a middle-income social context.