Teachers’ Ratings of Kindergartners’ Mathematical Ability and Parents’ Report of Math Activities at Home

• In Event: Evaluating a Statewide Community-Based Initiative to Enhance School Readiness: A Kindergarten Profile

Abstract

Objective or purposes
The math findings presented in this paper are taken from teacher and parent surveys where teachers rated children’s ability to accomplish a dozen math and guardians reported home activities with mathematical content (i.e., counting and talking about size and weight). While the Research-Based Early Mathematics Assessment (REMA) was administered, difficulties in test administration have delayed analyses on this direct child measure at the present time.

Perspectives or theoretical framework (Please see symposium overview)

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
Ratings are analyzed from 206 kindergarten teachers’ surveys and the self-reports from 1,016 parents/guardians.

Results/Conclusions
Teachers’ ratings. Teachers rated children’s performance on a subset of Arizona’s Early Learning Standards in Mathematics as being “proficient,” “in progress to becoming proficient,” and “not yet proficient.” The skills and concepts rated represented areas of number sense and operations, patterns, geometry and measurement, and structure and logic.
Results indicated that almost half (48%) of the children were rated as proficient in the fall of kindergarten; the skills of 46% were categorized as being “in progress” of becoming proficient, and only 6% were seen as not demonstrating any proficient knowledge of the abilities being assessed.
Home activities in math. The parents/guardians of 1,016 children reported that they engaged in counting activities more frequently than talking about size and weight of objects with their child. However, counting and size and weight concepts account for a small subset of items addressed in the Arizona Early Learning Standards. Thus, during transition events, in particular, with elementary school teachers, parents/guardians might be encouraged to engage in activities that cover additional math concepts, such as patterns, shapes, positional terms, and comparative words, to help their children become proficient in math.
Conclusions. While teachers’ ratings of kindergartners are different from direct assessments, the current results indicate that less than half (48%) of children beginning school are observed to be functioning well in math. This finding may presage the later finding that at 4th grade in Arizona only about 1 of 4 students (27%) are proficient and nearly that many (26%) perform “below basic.” The finding also speaks to the importance of kindergarten transition activities and the need for coordination between educators at the early grades and parents so as to build upon the mathematical knowledge which children have and is needed for later school success in math.

Authors

• Nancy J. Perry, Arizona State University

• Mark Nagasawa, Erikson Institute