Are Most Kindergarten Students Spinning Their Wheels in Math?

        In this article in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Mimi Engel (Vanderbilt University), Amy Claessens (University of Chicago), and Maida Finch (Salisbury University) report on their study of the mathematics content taught in U.S. kindergarten classes and what students already know. Their conclusion: “Although the vast majority of children entered kindergarten having mastered basic counting and able to recognize simple geometric shapes, their teachers reported spending the most mathematics time – typically about 13 days per month – on this content.” A small number of entering kindergarten students (about 5 percent) needed instruction on these basics, but the 95 percent of students who were already proficient students did not. In classrooms where students received instruction on more advanced material, they all benefited.

            Why do so many kindergarten teachers spend time on material that almost all their students have already mastered? Engel, Claessens, and Finch suggest several possible reasons:

-   Teachers may be less comfortable teaching math than reading.

-   Teachers may have limited pedagogical content knowledge in math and stick with basic skills.

-   Teachers may not be using assessments that inform them of children’s entering skill levels.

-   Teachers may be following district or state guidelines that emphasize basics over more-advanced content.

“Teaching Students What They Already Know? The (Mis)Alignment Between Mathematics Instructional Content and Student Knowledge in Kindergarten” by Mimi Engel, Amy Claessens, and Maida Finch in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, June 2013 (Vol. 35, #2, p. 157-178), http://bit.ly/17TwQsV

From the Marshall Memo #488