Many children enter kindergarten without the foundational mathematics skills needed to succeed¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Many children enter kindergarten without the foundational mathematics skills needed to succeed, motivating the study of early mathematics trajectories. → Tara Hofkens 2022

Evidence¶

Tara Hofkens 2022¶

Tara Hofkens, Jessica Whittaker, Robert Pianta, Virginia Vitiello, Erik Ruzek, Arya Ansari. (2022). Pathways of mathematics achievement in preschool: Examining executive function and task orientation. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101432

q2 · i? · associational · r?

The article states, citing Garcia & Weiss (2015), that many children enter kindergarten without the foundational mathematics skills needed to succeed; this is background motivation reported as cited literature, not a finding tested in this study.

"Despite research demonstrating the importance of mathematics achievement to children’s educational success and trajectories, many children enter kindergarten without the foundational mathematics skills needed to succeed (Garcia & Weiss, 2015)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Many U.S. students enter elementary school with poor math skills — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Students from poor families lag behind more affluent peers in early elementary math performance — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Children from low-income families enter kindergarten one full standard deviation (15 standard score points) behind higher-income peers in literacy and mathematics (ECLS-K, attributed to Zill & West, 2001) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• In 2010, just 29 percent of children entering kindergarten in and near the NAZ Zone met literacy benchmarks on kindergarten readiness tests — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Children attending early childhood education programs are far more likely to be on track in emergent literacy and numeracy — related
• Gaps in academic skills between children narrowed at kindergarten entry, per the article's abstract — related
• Academic and nonacademic skills developed in preschool and early elementary years are foundational to important longer-term outcomes — related
• Learning is effective when it builds on children's existing knowledge in real-world contexts, and early fraction foundations matter because many older children struggle with rational numbers — related
• Attendance in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten is important, and early-grade chronic absenteeism has identifiable risk factors — related