Background: Developing sufficient mathematical skills is a prerequisite to function adequately in society today. Given this, an important task is to increase our understanding regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying young people's acquisition of early number skills and formal mathematical knowledge. Aims: The purpose was to examine whether…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

Early measures of mathematics skill and development have focused on early numeracy skills like counting, number identification, and sequencing of numbers. This study attempted to expand early mathematics assessment. Six new measures of early mathematics skill competence were developed and evaluated. Four existing measures also were examined.…

The author describes an experiment to compare performance of grade 1-3 children on the various types of open sentence associated with basic number facts, and suggests some explanations for the results obtained. (MM)

The informal arithmetic inventory, an informal diagnostic technique for use with elementary age students, indicates a child's specific weaknesses in arithmetic, such as inadequate concept development, poor computational skills, or inability to apply skills in a practical problem solving situation. (SBH)

The study examined basic counting competencies, difficulties, skill progressions, and variation among 36 moderately retarded and 64 mildly retarded students (ages 5-14). Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated deficiencies in basic counting competencies and systematic oral- and object-counting errors. Striking individual differences in…

This guide is a collection of ideas for mathematics activities which were assembled and tested by primary teachers. Activities are correlated to a mathematics curriculum for ages 7-9 years. The activities supplement the teaching of basic numeracy and include topics such as the language of mathematics, matching numbers, tracing the numbers, number…

Insights from both cognitive psychology and learning disabilities intervention research are presented to improve understanding of the processes by which number fact fluency develops. Discussion includes assessment guidelines and learning strategies such as counting all, counting on, and alternative groupings. (Author/JDD)

The Assessment Tool for Moderately Retarded Students in Academic Skills (1978) is designed for moderately retarded students (5-21 years) and mildly retarded students (3-14 years) who will be living in sheltered home and work settings. The assessment tool is based on a life centered curricular model concerned with developing--in a sequential…

As recent research efforts have focused on preventing reading difficulties and enhancing the effectiveness of special education services for students with reading problems, similar efforts in mathematics have not been realized. This article describes the development and preliminary field testing of a set of measures designed to screen students in…