The National Mathematics Advisory Panel (NMAP), a federally funded project examining and summarizing the scientific evidence related to the teaching and learning of mathematics, primary stated work is to issue reports and policy recommendations about how best to prepare students for success in learning algebra, this work will, over the next few years, trigger a flurry of long-awaited and much needed research activities in the area of math learning. It will also help to delineate the core knowledge and skills that are necessary for all students, including those who struggle with learning, to benefit from mathematics activities and instruction throughout their educational careers, beginning as early as kindergarten and extending throughout the elementary, middle and high school years. Once "discovered," it will be our shared challenge to disseminate this knowledge through high-quality educational products and services, professional development activities, and well-supported replication and dissemination activities.
The Importance of Mathematics
Although reading skills are acknowledged to be critical for succeeding in school and in life, the importance of acquiring basic math skills for functioning effectively is only beginning to be recognized by the American public. Recent reports have pointed to students across the U.S. in grades four and eight as consistently performing below many, if not most, of their peers around the world, a trend that unfortunately continues to pervade into high school years. U.S. Secretary Margaret Spellings, in her 2007 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, stated that "...almost half of our 17 year-olds do not have the basic understanding of math needed to qualify for a production associate's job at a modern auto plant." There is no question that the failure to develop competencies in math during the school years can seriously handicap both daily living and vocational prospects for young people and adults alike. In today's world, mathematical knowledge, math reasoning, and math problem-solving skills are no less important than reading ability.
What We Know
- There is wide-spread misunderstanding of the importance of math in everyday life and a lack of appreciation of how important math learning is for young children. Researchers have begun to look at kindergarten math skills as effective predictors of future academic achievement. Children's early math knowledge is said to be important because it fosters future abilities not only in math but also in reading. In one study, pre-math skills at kindergarten entry are said to predict math achievement as much as reading achievement by grade three.
- Math difficulties are more pervasive among minority children and among those from low-income families. Many of these children lag behind before they even start school. In addition, between 5 and 10 percent of all children who enter school will be identified as having a math difficulty or disability. Without early and effective instruction, many of these children will face math frustration and failure throughout their school careers.
- Many teachers (and parents), by their own admission, lack a conceptual understanding of math and are therefore not well prepared to teach math effectively or convey an appreciation of math to their students. Many even admit to disliking or being anxious about math, a perception easily conveyed to students.
- In contrast to dyslexia, researchers have not yet identified the primary cognitive deficits that underlie math learning disabilities.
- Difficulties in math appear not to be linked to a specific disability, but rather, may be the result of weaknesses in other related cognitive skill areas such as language, attention, memory, and skills related to perceiving and imagining space.
- Math learning does not follow a predictable, step-by-step course. Interestingly, seemingly more advanced skills and concepts are possible to learn before mastering more basic numerical operations.
- There is good evidence that early prediction or identification of math difficulties, coupled with well-targeted research-based interventions, can diminish or prevent struggle with math learning for many children.
- Children with a learning disability in math are likely to show persistent difficulties with learning over time, making it all the more important to gather reliable data about student progress beginning as early as possible in the child's school career.
The National Mathematics Advisory Panel
The members of the NMAP were instructed to receive public testimony about math teaching and learning and to work in task groups and subcommittees to answer questions including:
- What is the essential content of school algebra, and what do children need to know before starting to study it?
- What is known from research about how children learn mathematics?
- What is known about the effectiveness of instructional practices and materials?
- How can we best recruit, prepare, and retain effective teachers of mathematics?
- How can we make assessments of mathematical knowledge more accurate and more useful?
- What do practicing teachers of algebra say about the preparation of students whom they receive into their classrooms and about other relevant matters?
- What are the appropriate standards of evidence for the Panel to use in drawing conclusions from the research base?
Each of five task groups carried out a detailed analysis of the available evidence in one of five major areas of inquiry:
- Conceptual Knowledge and Skills,
- Learning Processes,
- Instructional Practices,
- Teachers and Teacher Education, and
- Assessment.
Take a look at the the Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel just released, with special attention to the panel's recommendations about:
- The critical skills (and skill progressions) needed to learn algebra and prepare for more advanced courses
- The role and design of standards and assessments in promoting student competence in math
- The processes by which students of various abilities or backgrounds learn math
- How the training, selection, placement and professional development of math teachers affect student achievement
- Instructional practices, programs and materials that have proven effective in improving math learning
The National Academy of Sciences: An Early Childhood Mathematics Project
A very promising project is underway at the Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academy of Sciences. With a focus specifically on Early Childhood Mathematics, this project has been studying, synthesizing and analyzing the past twenty years of research on early childhood mathematics from a number of different disciplines. The report, due out later this year, will offer implications for policy and practice affecting young children as they move through the preschool years and begin formal schooling. The report will also provide research-based guidance to increase the numbers of young children, especially vulnerable children, getting off to a strong start in learning mathematics during their first years of schooling.
The committee members working on this project are working to develop:
- Appropriate mathematics learning objectives for preschool students
- Evidence-based insights related to curriculum, instruction, and teacher education for achieving these learning objectives
- Implications of these findings for policy, practice, parent-child relations, future data collection and further research.
Some of the questions that will be addressed in the upcoming report will be:
- What does existing research tell us about what preschool children can know about mathematics, and how they develop this knowledge?
- Which mathematical knowledge, skills and concepts in the preschool years increase the likelihood of successful mathematics learning in school and beyond?
- What do international comparisons, with respect to both preschoolers and primary grade students, tell us about the nature of early mathematics learning and prospects for its improvement in the U.S.?
- What policies and practices best lay the foundation for successful mathematics learning?
- What approaches in other countries, with respect to interventions and ongoing support, could usefully be applied here?
- What can parents, preschool teachers and other adults who interact with young children do to promote their mathematical development
- How can we support the mathematical development of preschool teachers so that they will be able to promote young children's mathematical development?
- How can further research in cognitive development and preschool education be focused to address issues that will lead to improvement in children's mathematical proficiency?
Stay tuned for more updates --
NCLD is continuing to focus attention on these and other important activities in the area of math learning, and encourages you to keep checking the LD.org for new features and updates.
Sheldon Horowitz, Ed.D. is the Director of Professional Services at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. This article first appeared as a Research Roundup column in LD News.
Read all Research Roundup Columns by Dr. Horowitz in the Research Roundup Archive.
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