Kindergarten Mathematics Instruction and the Common Core

• In Event: 65.038 - Kindergarten in Transition: Purpose, Entry Age, Curriculum, and Student Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: The current study investigates whether kindergarten mathematics instruction has changed during the past decade, as standards-era reform movements have attempted to overhaul K-12 education. We conceptualize mathematics instruction along Common Core dimensions, and investigate whether changes in time spent on Common Core topics relate to student achievement gains during the kindergarten year.

Data and Methods: Data come from the both the 1998-1999 and 2010-2011 samples of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Cohort datasets that contain independent, nationally representative samples of children recruited at the beginning of kindergarten. We used teacher report measures in which teachers indicated how much time per month was spent on various mathematics instructional topics (e.g., counting to 10, adding and subtracting single-digit numbers). We then categorized instructional topics into the domains specified by the Kindergarten level of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice (CCSSM). This categorization led to three broad categories (Kindergarten CCSSM Topics; Advanced CCSSM Topics (topics beyond kindergarten); Non-CCSSM Topics).
The samples (1999: n= 15,090; 2010: n= 12,880) were restricted to students who: 1) could be matched to the same kindergarten teacher in fall and spring; 2) had valid fall and spring test scores; 3) had instructional data from the spring. We used a dummy variable approach to handle missing data on covariates.

Results: We found that kindergarten teachers report spending significantly more time on mathematics instruction in 2010-2011 than in 1998-1999. We did not find that children receive different amounts of time on mathematics instruction based on their school-entry test scores, but children in full-day kindergarten receive significantly more mathematics instruction than children in half-day kindergarten. We did not find that socioeconomic status or race was systematically related to instructional time.
Finally, results from OLS regression analyses indicate that time spent on certain mathematical domains recommended by the CCSSM (Operations and Algebraic Thinking; Number and Operations in Base Ten) is more strongly associated with kindergarten achievement gains than time spent on other domains (Geometry; Measurement and Data) in both the 1998 and 2010 cohorts.

We investigated whether time spent on various instructional topics differed based on certain child characteristics. In both samples, interactions between levels of the fall math score (low, average, high) and instructional topic failed to produce significant patterns, and joint-tests revealed that the set of interaction variables did not significantly contribute to the models. This same pattern held for interactions between family socioeconomic status and time spent on instructional topic.

Significance: These results lend support to the recent research that suggests that the benefits of advanced mathematics instruction during early childhood appear to be shared across students at all levels of school-entry skills and socioeconomic status. Results also suggest that while the CCSSM for kindergarten do include mathematics content that most kindergarteners will benefit from learning, the standards also recommend covering content in kindergarten that many students 1) already know, and 2) that increased focus on this basic content may result in smaller learning gains for the vast majority of students.

Authors

• Tyler Watts, University of California - Irvine

• George Farkas, University of California - Irvine

• Greg Duncan, University of California - Irvine