An integrated EF and mathematics intervention improves overall early numeracy in four-year-olds more than practice as usual¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 The intervention also improved specific numerical subskills, with larger gains in Give N (g = 0.58) and Number Comparison (g = 0.35) than controls. → Scerif 2025

Evidence¶

Scerif 2025¶

Scerif, G., Sučević, J., Andrews, H., Blakey, E., Gattas, S. U., Godfrey, A., et al. (2025). Enhancing children's numeracy and executive functions via their explicit integration. npj Science of Learning 10, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00302-9

q3 · i2 · causal · r2

Intention-to-treat multilevel models in the same RCT report "main effects of the intervention on Give N and Number Comparison"; the table gives Hedge's g = 0.58 (p = 0.002) for Give N and g = 0.35 (p = 0.040) for Number Comparison.

"There were also main effects of the intervention on Give N and Number Comparison, again driven by higher improvements in the Intervention compared to the Control Group."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Number Sense — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Disadvantaged children in the integrated intervention improved more on executive function measures than disadvantaged controls — related
• Isolated EF interventions show robust near-term EF gains but poor transfer, including to early mathematics — a broader claim this one bears on
• Bidirectional EF–mathematics relationships are reported but the longitudinal evidence is mixed and method-dependent — related
• Preschool executive functions robustly predict mathematical skills during preschool and later in development — related