Learning mathematics: screening and preventive intervention in 1st grade children
AUTHORS
Lilia Marcelino | lilia.marcelino@ulusofona.pt | CeiDE & CICANT, Lusophone University
SUMMARY
Identifying and intervening at the level of initial numerical skills (counting, number identification, numerical relations and operations) can contribute to students’ academic success throughout their schooling. In the context of the implementation of the “ProSucesso – Açores pela Educação” Program, of the Regional Secretariat for Education and Culture of the Government of the Azores, this paper presents the results of a research project that aims to explore the impact of the Number Sense Method – Numerical Images as a preventive measure at the level of number sense and fluency in mental calculation. The fieldwork included 1557 children in the 1st year of school and 30 special education teachers, from all 30 public schools that provide the 1st Cycle of Basic Education, from the 9 islands of the Azores Archipelago. The first phase of the study focused on teacher training, followed by the implementation of the BSN – Number Sense Battery to identify children at risk of having future difficulties in learning Mathematics, based on the assessment of initial numerical skills. A total of 293 children with low initial numerical skills were identified, 54.61 females and 45.41 males; of these, 107 children had access to the Number Sense Method – Numerical Images [1-20], in 24 90-minute sessions per week, while 110 children were part of the control group, without access to the method, only with the Mathematics curriculum. A pre- and post-assessment was applied to both groups to verify the impact of MSN as a preventive intervention at the level of basic Mathematics skills (measured by TEDI-MATH). The results indicate an improvement in basic Mathematics skills in both groups, with a greater incidence in the group that had access to a preventive intervention, although the differences between the two groups are not statistically significant.
KEYWORDS
“ProSucesso – Azores for Education” Program, number sense, addition, subtraction, 1st Cycle of Basic Education, preventive intervention
RELEVANT DATES
Published: 2021/12/21
Published: 2021/10/29