In a pre-registered RCT, neither the forward nor bidirectional number board game (nor the alphabet control) produced a statistically significant condition effect on numerical or letter-sound outcomes in four- to five-year-olds¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr3·q4
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-25 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q4 i? Pre-registered ANCOVAs on the three primary outcome measures found the effect of condition was not statistically significant after controlling for pre-test scores. → James-Brabham 2024
Evidence¶
James-Brabham 2024¶
James-Brabham, E., Jay, T., & Sella, F. (2024). No evidence that playing a linear number board game improves numerical skills beyond teaching as usual: a randomized controlled trial in four- to five-year-old primary school children. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000857
q4 · i? · causal · r3
Pre-registered ANCOVA on post-test scores with pre-test and condition as predictors in an RCT of 249 children; the article reports "The effect of the condition was not statistically significant" for all primary outcomes, with no printed effect size for the condition effect.
"A pre-registered ANCOVA was run for each of the primary outcome measures with post-test scores as the dependent variable and pre -test scores and conditions as predictors"
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Alphabet Knowledge and Print Awareness — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- Children preferred playing a number game over a letter game at pre-test, and this preference did not vary by condition — related
- Children improved their numerical and letter-sound knowledge between pre-test and post-test regardless of condition — related
- Number instruction outperformed both alphabet instruction conditions on number identification gains — reports the opposite
- The game sessions showed high attendance, engagement, and enjoyment, with no differences among conditions — related
- The authors attribute the null intervention effect to children's prior formal mathematics teaching and note the study is a failed conceptual replication of earlier linear board-game studies — related
- Initial letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness were not uniquely related to growth in each other — related
- In the Nelson, Benner, & Gonzalez (2005) RCT, SSL produced statistically significant positive effects on all five alphabetics outcomes — related
- In a Chicago quasi-experiment, Earobics®'s overall effect was not significant, but the CTOPP Sound Matching subtest showed a significant positive effect — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
number-board-game-no-condition-effect-young-children |
title |
In a pre-registered RCT, neither the forward nor bidirectional number board game (nor the alphabet control) produced a statistically significant condition effect on numerical or letter-sound outcomes in four- to five-year-olds |
description |
In a pre-registered RCT, neither the forward nor bidirectional number board game (nor the alphabet control) produced a statistically significant condition effect on numerical or letter-sound outcomes in four- to five-... |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2024 |
source_checked |
2026-10-25 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-25 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — james-brabham-2024 |
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