Teaching Math to Young Children

EDUCATOR¡¯S PRACTICE GUIDE

WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE?

Teaching Math to Young Children

NCEE 2014-4005

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes practice guides in education to bring the best

available evidence and expertise to bear on current challenges in education. Authors of practice

guides combine their expertise with the findings of rigorous research, when available, to develop

specific recommendations for addressing these challenges. The authors rate the strength of the

research evidence supporting each of their recommendations. See Appendix A for a full description

of practice guides.

The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations

that address the challenge of teaching early math to children ages 3 to 6. The guide provides

practical, clear information on critical topics related to teaching early math and is based on the

best available evidence as judged by the authors.

Practice guides published by IES are available on our website at .

IES Practice Guide

Teaching Math to Young Children

November 2013

Panel

Douglas Frye (Chair)

University of Pennsylvania

Arthur J. Baroody

University of Illinois

at

Urbana-Champaign

and

University

Margaret Burchinal

University of North Carolina

Sharon M. Carver

Carnegie Mellon University Children¡¯s School

Nancy C. Jordan

University of Delaware

Judy McDowell

School District of Philadelphia

Staff

M. C. Bradley

Elizabeth Cavadel

Julia Lyskawa

Libby Makowsky

Moira McCullough

Bryce Onaran

Michael Barna

Mathematica Policy Research

Marc Moss

Abt Associates

Project Officers

Joy Lesnick

Diana McCallum

Institute of Education Sciences

NCEE 2014-4005

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

of

Denver

This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance,

Institute of Education Sciences under Contract ED-IES-13-C-0010 by the What Works Clearinghouse,

which is operated by Mathematica Policy Research.

Disclaimer

The opinions and positions expressed in this practice guide are those of the authors and do not

necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the Institute of Education Sciences or the

U.S. Department of Education. This practice guide should be reviewed and applied according to

the specific needs of the educators and education agency using it, and with full realization that

it represents the judgments of the review panel regarding what constitutes sensible practice,

based on the research that was available at the time of publication. This practice guide should be

used as a tool to assist in decisionmaking rather than as a ¡°cookbook.¡± Any references within the

document to specific education products are illustrative and do not imply endorsement of these

products to the exclusion of other products that are not referenced.

U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

John Q. Easton

Director

National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance

Ruth Neild

Commissioner

November 2013

This report is in the public domain. Although permission to reprint this publication is not necessary,

the citation should be:

Frye, D., Baroody, A. J., Burchinal, M., Carver, S. M., Jordan, N. C., & McDowell, J. (2013). Teaching math

to young children: A practice guide (NCEE 2014-4005). Washington, DC: National Center for Education

Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website:

What Works Clearinghouse practice guide citations begin with the panel chair, followed by the

names of the panelists listed in alphabetical order.

This report is available on the IES website at .

Alternate Formats

On request, this publication can be made available in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print, or

CD. For more information, contact the Alternate Format Center at (202) 260-0852 or (202) 260-0818.

Table of Contents

Teaching Math to Young Children

Table of Contents

Overview of Recommendations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Institute of Education Sciences Levels of Evidence for Practice Guides

. . . . . . .4

Introduction to the Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide . . . . . . 7

Recommendation 1. Teach number and operations using a developmental progression . . 12

Recommendation 2. Teach geometry, patterns, measurement, and data analysis

using a developmental progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Recommendation 3. Use progress monitoring to ensure that math instruction

builds on what each child knows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Recommendation 4. Teach children to view and describe their world mathematically . . . 42

Recommendation 5. Dedicate time each day to teaching math, and integrate

math instruction throughout the school day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Appendix A. Postscript from the Institute of Education Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Appendix B. About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Appendix C. Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Appendix D. Rationale for Evidence Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

List of Tables

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

1. Institute of Education Sciences levels of evidence for practice guides. . .

2. Recommendations and corresponding levels of evidence . . . . . . .

3. Examples of a specific developmental progression for number knowledge

4. Common counting errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. Examples of vocabulary words for types of measurement. . . . . . .

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