A Kindergarten Number-Sense Intervention with Contrasting Practice Conditions for Low-Achieving Children [Number sense intervention with number-fact practice vs. control]
Dyson, Nancy; Jordan, Nancy C.; Beliakoff, Amber; Hassinger-Das, Brenna (2015). Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, v46 n3 p331-370. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1088271
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examining84Students, gradeK
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2020
- Practice Guide (findings for Targeted Math Intervention)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Number Sense Screener |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
31.64 |
25.66 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Number Sense Screener |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
8 Weeks |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
33.78 |
29.52 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arithmetic Fluency task (Dyson et al., 2015) |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
7.52 |
4.50 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) Standard Test Book Form A: Calculation subtest |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
4.96 |
3.31 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Arithmetic Fluency task (Dyson et al., 2015) |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
8 Weeks |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
8.58 |
6.20 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) Standard Test Book Form A: Calculation subtest |
Targeted Math Intervention vs. Business as usual |
8 Weeks |
Full sample. Number fact practice vs. Control;
|
6.45 |
5.10 |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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41% English language learners -
Female: 51%
Male: 49% -
Urban
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Race Black 26% Other or unknown 55% White 20% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 52% Not Hispanic or Latino 48%
Study Details
Study sample
The analytic sample was 51% female. About 26% of students were African American; 52% were Hispanic, and 20% Caucasian. Approximately 41% were identified as English learner students because they were enrolled in bilingual classrooms. Roughly 84% of students qualified for free or reduced price lunch. On average, children in the number fact practice group were 67 months old and children in the control group were 64 months old.
Intervention Group
The Number-Fact Practice condition involved 24 30-minutes lessons over an 8 week period. The intervention was delivered to small groups of students (n = 4). Students participated in instruction that aimed to improve their number-sense skills. Instruction was provided in four areas: number, number relations, and number operations. Students received 25 minutes of a number sense intervention. The last 5 minutes of instruction for the Number-Fact Practice condition practiced basic number fact fluency.
Comparison Group
In three of the four schools that had set aside time for intervention, children in the control condition participated in their school’s typical mathematics intervention. In the fourth school, control students participated in non-academic instruction during the time when the intervention we being delivered.
Support for implementation
Interventionists were provided with scripted lessons. No other support was reported.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
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The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
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The number of students included in the analysis.
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The mean score of students in the comparison group.
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Study findings for this report.
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