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Poster #8 - Parental Math Attitudes and Expectations Predict Developmental Change in Children’s Mathematical Skills in Elementary School

Thu, March 23, 4:15 to 5:00pm, Salt Palace Convention Center, Floor: 1, Hall A-B

Abstract

The home mathematics environment encompasses a wide range of factors such as parents’ personal attitudes and affective responses to mathematics, activity choices, and the resources available to support mathematical learning (Elliot et al., 2021). Multiple studies have evidenced positive associations between home mathematics learning practices – such as the frequency of parental scaffolding and access to educational materials – and children’s mathematical performance (see Sénéchal et al., 2017). However, recent evidence has suggested that this association is more nuanced than previously understood (Skwarchuk et al., 2022) and that caregivers’ personal attitudes towards mathematics may play a more prominent role in children’s development, as they may contribute to the quality of formal numeracy activities taking place in the home (del Río et al., 2017). For this reason, further investigation is required to understand the unique roles that parents’ mathematical attitudes, expectations, and home numeracy practices play in children’s mathematical skills in early elementary school.

In an ongoing longitudinal study, we assessed parents’ mathematics attitudes, academic expectations, and home numeracy practices as they related to children’s mathematical skills over time. A total of 76 children entering kindergarten (average age = 5.72 years, 54% female) were assessed across the kindergarten and first-grade years (6 timepoints) with a battery of cognitive and academic measures. In a survey administered to primary caregivers at the beginning of kindergarten (Skwarchuk et al., 2014), parents rated their level of agreement with statements such as “I find math enjoyable” and “It’s important for children to be able to count to 100 before Grade 1”, representing their mathematics attitudes and math-specific academic expectations, respectively. Caregivers also used a 20-item scale to report the frequency of participating in home numeracy activities with their children (LeFevre et al., 2009). Children were asked to solve ten simple addition problems (Math Problem-Solving Task; Siegler & Jenkins, 1989) that were coded for strategy use. Subsequently, children’s math problem-solving skills were assessed by their total correct answers (accuracy) and if they used a strategy to reach a correct answer (strategy effectiveness).

To examine the role of parental home numeracy practices, math attitudes, and expectations in the development of children’s mathematical problem-solving skills, a series of growth curve models in a multilevel modeling framework were created to understand possible differences in growth across elementary school. Preliminary findings indicate that although home numeracy activities did not account for differences in children’s mathematics outcomes (p >.05), parents’ mathematical attitudes and expectations accounted for variability in children’s math problem-solving accuracy (t=2.10, p<.05; t=2.24, p<.05) at the beginning of first grade. Regarding strategy effectiveness, however, only parents’ expectations could account for differences in children’s scores (t=2.05, p<.05) at first grade entry. Interestingly, children entering kindergarten who had parents of low math attitudes and expectations developed math problem-solving skills more rapidly over the course of the kindergarten year than their peers of high parental math attitudes and expectations (t=-2.16, p<.05; t=-2.03, p<.05), highlighting the importance of examining the role of the schooling experience for specific subgroups of children.

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