Crossover effects: early reading fluency predicts later mathematics outcomes more strongly than early mathematics skills predict later reading¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2–r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-25 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Each SD increase in early reading ability was associated with 0.126 and 0.149 SD increases in later calculations and WPS, respectively (unstandardized coefficients; no standardized effect size printed). → Spencer Mercedes 2022 q3 i? Each SD increase in early calculation skill and WPS was associated with 0.062 and 0.017 increases in later reading performance; these mathematics-to-reading associations appeared weaker than reading-to-mathematics ones. → Spencer Mercedes 2022 (2)

Evidence¶

Spencer Mercedes 2022¶

Spencer Mercedes, Fuchs Lynn S., Geary David C., Fuchs Douglas. (2022). Connections between Mathematics and Reading Development: Numerical Cognition Mediates Relations between Foundational Competencies and Later Academic Outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000670

q3 · i? · associational · r3

From the final pruned mediation model's crossover-effect results in the Discussion, controlling earlier calculations and WPS scores and domain-general abilities; the printed path coefficients were 0.126 (calculations) and 0.149 (WPS) per SD increase in early reading ability, unstandardized effects with no standardized effect size printed.

"Each SD increase in early reading ability was associated with 0.126 and 0.149 SD increases in later calculations and WPS, respectively."

Spencer Mercedes 2022 (2)¶

Spencer Mercedes, Fuchs Lynn S., Geary David C., Fuchs Douglas. (2022). Connections between Mathematics and Reading Development: Numerical Cognition Mediates Relations between Foundational Competencies and Later Academic Outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000670

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Mathematics-to-reading crossover effects from the same final pruned model; the article reports "a 0.062 and 0.017 increase in later reading performance" for early calculation skill and WPS respectively, and notes these appeared weaker than the reverse direction.

"each SD increase in early calculation skill and WPS, respectively, was associated with a 0.062 and 0.017 increase in later reading performance."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Decoding — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Operations and Place Value — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• End-of-first-grade numerical cognition directly predicts later calculations, word-problem solving, and word reading, with the strongest relation to calculations — related
• Numerical cognition assessed at end of first grade statistically mediates associations between early processing speed, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, and attentive behavior and later calculations, word-problem solving, and reading — related
• The final pruned mediation model fits the data excellently and accounts for 58.0%, 62.2%, and 53.2% of variance in later calculations, word-problem solving, and reading — related
• Early listening comprehension directly predicts later word-problem solving and word reading but not calculations, and numerical cognition does not mediate this relation — related