The effects of early intervention on the mathematical achievement of low-performing first-grade students.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to describe the effect that Math Recovery and the Count Me In Too program had on mathematical achievement of first grade students who were identified as low performing in mathematics. This study examined the effects of Math Recovery, an early intervention program involving comprehensive, on-going assessment of students' numerical knowledge and strategies, coupled with a program of distinctive instructional practices, in use with low-performing, first grade students in an urban public school district. Count Me In Too is a professional development program designed to provide classroom teachers with mathematical understandings, strategies, and instructional practices that complement Math Recovery's approach.; Based upon the theoretical work on psychological stages of development from Piaget and Vygotsky, the programs reflect a constructivist philosophy and have a problem-based instructional approach. Wright (1998) created a Learning Framework in Number around which the Math Recovery program is shaped. The Learning Framework in Number is a continuum of numerical growth that provides teachers with a means to monitor students' mathematical development in six aspects of early number knowledge (Arithmetical Strategies, Forward Number Word Sequencing, Backward Number Word Sequencing, Numeral Identification, Spatial Patterning, and Tens and Ones Strategies).; The study is a pretest-posttest, control group design with matching. From an original pool of 243 participants, equating of participants was accomplished by matching participants on the basis of gender, special programs participation (English as a Second Language or Reading Recovery), ethnicity, and their pretest performance on the Spatial Patterns subsection of the Assessment in Early Numeracy. This created three groups each having 38 participants for analysis.; Results of this study show that the Math Recovery with Count Me In Too produced significantly greater gains in five out of the six aspects of early number knowledge in participating students. Math Recovery participants had statistically significantly greater gains in Arithmetical Strategies, Forward Number Word Sequencing, Numeral Identification, Spatial Patterning, and Tens and Ones Strategies, but not in Backward Number Word Sequencing.