The Educational Intervention Study On5-6Years Old Children With Mathematics Learning Difficulties

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of an intervention on5-6years old children with mathematical learning difficulty (MLD). Methods were adapted first to diagnose the mathematical ability defects and executive function impairment of these children. Then an intervention plan was developed based on the theories in Constructivism, Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Response to Intervention, Children’s Play and Cognitive Load Theory. Interventions were implemented in the two intervention groups and the effects of mathmatical intervention or executive intervention on children’s mathematical abilities were analyzed.A total of339children aged5-6years old from three kindergartens in Shanghai were selected as the participants. The participants were screened by the tool of Test of Early Mathematics Ability (TEMA), which was developed by Ginsburg and Baroody.34children were identified as children with MLD in this sample, and according to the cutting-point another30children with MLD were selected from128children, and these children from five kindergartens who were regarded as weak in mathematical learning by their teachers. At last, there were total of64children with MLD were selected as research participants. Another group of64children were randomly selected from the participants as typically developed sample, with the test score above25%of the total sample. Multivariate analysis of variance was applied to compare the differences in mathematical ability between the children with MLD and the typical children. Then the children’s executive function defects were identified with a tool adapted from a preschool children’s executive function test developed by Clark and his colleagues. Furthermore, the relationship between mathematical ability and executive function of the children with MLD was examined by regression analysis. After the pretest,64children with MLD were randomly divided into three groups that including math intervention group, executive function intervention group and comparison group. The methods of Group intervention and individual intervention were adopted in the study. Intervention was implemented to children with MLD two times per week,30to35minutes each time, and the intervention lasted for6months. All the children in the three groups participated in the posttest in order to assess the intervention effect. The growth trajectory constructed by linear growth model (LGM) was used to compare the growth speed and the individual difference between children with MLD and typical children. The scores of Mathematical Ability Test in three time points were used in the model. In addition, in order to provide a deep description of the process of mathematical intervention and executive function intervention, qualitative method and case study was used to add rich information in regarding the process as well as the intervention effect.The results indicated that the children with MLD scored significantly lower than typical children in counting, number comparisons, simple operation, numeral literacy, number facts. In comparison to the typical group, the mathematics learning difficulty group had significant lower scores of working memory, inhibition, and switch. Working memory could largely explain the variation in mathematical ability. These results were used as a basis for education intervention in the research. The intervention research concluded that MLD children’s mathematical ability was significantly improved by mathematics intervention but mathematics intervention had no effect on executive function. Executive function training could improve children’s working memory and math skills. Education intervention accelerated the growth of mathematical ability for children with MLD, and there were significantly individual differences in mathematical ability growth. The study on intervention strategies indicated that the intervention had adopted some useful strategies to help the children with MLD, such as helping children learning math according to their mathematical development trajectory, activating multi-sensory channel to learn mathematics, using Concrete-Representation-Abstract teaching method, connecting mathematics activities to children’s daily life, offering all kinds of support strategies based on children’s needs, effectively using materials at different levels and so on. The effective strategies for executive function intervention were then including:Providing different levels of intervention and different degrees of cues according to children’s needs, and providing different "scaffoldings" to help children improve executive skill, etc. Finally, implications for early identification and intervention with children with MLD were discussed.