The growth rates of dot enumeration ability predict mathematics achievements: A 5-year longitudinal study.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0370636 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8279 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00070998 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Educ Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Edinburgh : Scottish Academic Press

Academic Success* ; Aptitude*/physiology ; Child Development*/physiology ; Mathematical Concepts* ; Mathematics*; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hong Kong ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male

Background: Dot enumeration is the basic mathematics competency in young children and a significant indicator of later mathematics achievement.
Aim: The present study focused on (1) how children's dot enumeration ability changed as they progressed from late kindergarten years (K3) to the second year of primary school in Hong Kong (P2), and (2) the extent to which such changes are associated with students' mathematics outcomes assessed at the fourth grade, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept.
Sample(s): Two hundred and eleven Hong Kong kindergarteners were recruited.
Methods: The participants' dot enumeration was assessed from K3 to P2. Their mathematics outcomes were assessed at P4, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept.
Results: The changes in their dot enumeration speed reflected a linear growth pattern. Further, both the initial level and growth rate of dot enumeration predicted standardized mathematics achievement and whole number magnitude understanding 2 years later while only the latter predicted rational number concept.
Conclusions: The results indicate the importance of focusing on children's growth in a specific mathematics skill, in addition to their status at one single time point. Practical implications are discussed in this article.
(© 2019 The British Psychological Society.)

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Keywords: dot enumeration; growth rate; latent growth curve modelling; rational number concept

Date Created: 20190913 Date Completed: 20210607 Latest Revision: 20210607

20221213

10.1111/bjep.12318

31513291