Maximizing math achievement: Strategies from the science of learning

Abstract

To best support students’ mathematical learning, it is critical to identify instructional strategies that predict achievement over time and consider how these strategies interact with individual child factors. Prior research suggests that strategies informed by the principles of the science of learning benefit children’s mathematical development in early childhood. The present study extends previous findings to middle childhood, examining the relations between children’s exposure to mathematics instruction informed by the science of learning principles, children’s mathematics interest, and their mathematics achievement at the end of fourth grade. Participants were 4520 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study − Kindergarten 2010–2011 (M = 10.1 years; 50 % female). Children who received more frequent mathematics instruction aligned with principles of the science of learning had higher mathematics achievement at the end of fourth grade, controlling for prior mathematics achievement, overall frequency of mathematics instruction, child age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Although we hypothesized that children’s individual mathematics interest would moderate the association between the frequency of high-quality mathematics instruction and mathematics achievement, our results did not find evidence that children’s initial mathematics interest affected the association between their exposure to science of learning aligned strategies and their end-of-year mathematics achievement.