Poster #51 - Understanding Educator Experiences Implementing Screeners to Assess Students' Early Math Skills: A Research-Practice Collaboration

• In Event: 25.087 - MTCC Poster Session Four
  In Poster Session: 25.087-6 - Assessment in Schools: Poster Session 2

Abstract

Educators have recognized the need to assess numeracy skills in young children and provide focused mathematical learning opportunities, based on evidence from education and cognitive research. However, although some evidence-based screening tools exist, developers are often left in the dark about their feasibility and potential utility in practice. This paper describes a collaborative project between cognitive scientists and school board researchers/educators implementing two numeracy screeners with 720 Kindergarten students. Results indicated that educators found the tools reasonably easy to implement and informative for their practice. Their feedback also highlighted aspects of implementation of the tools that could be improved and future directions for the schools and developers/researchers. This work underscores the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration to bridge the research-practice gap.

Authors

• Jennifer A McDonald, Halton Catholic District School Board

• Rebecca Merkley, Carleton University

• Daniel Ansari

• Lisa Marie Collimore, Halton Catholic District School Board

• Jacqueline Mickle, Halton Catholic District School Board