Young Mathematicians: Expanding an Innovative and Promising Model Across Learning Environments to Promote Preschoolers' Mathematics Knowledge

在美国，太多的孩子在上幼儿园时缺乏取得学业成功所需的基础早期算术技能。该项目有助于实现加强早期数学学习和教学的目标，以建设一支有STEM能力的劳动力和STEM公民，这对我们国家的繁荣和竞争力都是至关重要的。为STEM劳动力做准备必须及早开始，因为幼儿的数学发展支持认知发展，建立大脑架构，支持解决问题、困惑和坚持不懈，同时强烈影响和预测未来在学校的成功。来自低社会经济背景的学龄前儿童面临的风险尤其大，因为他们的数学知识可能比中等收入同龄人落后整整一年。尽管关于数学互动对幼儿学习和发展的重要性达成了共识，但大多数早期教育教师和家庭并没有接受过能够促进这些经历的循证方法的培训，这使得学龄前学习环境(如学校和家庭)成为干预的关键目标。这个项目的好处是，它将为学校对早期数学教学的干预开发一个强大的模型。该模式有可能扩大参与度，提供支持成人-儿童互动和参与数学的教学材料，明确促进数学方面的学校-家庭联系，并解决教育工作者和家庭对数学的态度，同时促进儿童的数学知识，缩小机会差距。这一设计和开发项目的目标是解决对创新资源的迫切需求，通过创建跨背景的学校-家庭干预来改变资源不足社区的学龄前儿童的数学学习环境。为了实现这一目标，将采用定性和定量的研究方法，整合来自多个来源和利益攸关方的数据。具体地说，该项目将：(1)参与材料设计和开发过程，包括设计、开发和实施的迭代周期，与实际环境中的从业者和家庭合作；(2)收集和分析来自至少40个Head Start课堂的数据，实施数学材料，以确保课堂和家庭数学材料和资源具有吸引力，可供学龄前儿童、教师和家庭理解；以及(3)进行一项实验研究，以衡量干预对学龄前儿童数学学习的影响。研究人员将使用分层线性回归模型分析收集到的数据，以解释教室内儿童的聚集情况。研究人员还将使用一系列回归模型和多水平模型来确定干预是否会促进学生的结果，以及是否支持教师和家庭对数学的积极态度。探索研究K-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高K-12学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Far too many children in the U.S. start kindergarten lacking the foundational early numeracy skills needed for academic success. This project contributes to the goal of enhancing the learning and teaching of early mathematics in order to build a STEM-capable workforce and STEM-literate citizenry, which are both crucial to our nation's prosperity and competitiveness. Preparation for the STEM-workforce must start early, as young children's mathematics development undergirds cognitive development, building brain architecture, and supporting problem-solving, puzzling, and persevering, while strongly impacting and predicting future success in school. Preschool children from low socio-economic backgrounds are particularly at risk, as their mathematics knowledge may be up to a full year behind their middle-income peers. Despite agreements about the importance of mathematics-rich interactions for young children's learning and development, most early education teachers and families are not trained in evidence-based methods that can facilitate these experiences, making preschool learning environments (such as school and home) a critical target for intervention. The benefit of this project is that it will develop a robust model for a school-based intervention in early mathematics instruction. The model has the potential to broaden participation by providing instructional materials that support adult-child interaction and engagement in mathematics, explicitly promoting school-home connections in mathematics, and addressing educators' and families' attitudes toward mathematics while promoting children's mathematical knowledge and narrowing opportunity gaps. The goal of this design and development project is to address the critical need for innovative resources that transform the mathematics learning environments of preschool children from under-resourced communities by creating a cross-context school-home intervention. To achieve this goal, qualitative and quantitative research methodologies will be employed, integrating data from multiple sources and stakeholders. Specifically, the project will: (1) engage in a materials design and development process that includes an iterative cycle of design, development, and implementation, collaborating with practitioners and families in real-world settings; (2) collect and analyze data from at least 40 Head Start classrooms, implementing the mathematics materials to ensure that the classroom and family mathematics materials and resources are engaging, usable, and comprehensible to preschoolers, teachers, and families; and (3) conduct an experimental study that will measure the impact of the intervention on preschool children's mathematics learning. The researchers will analyze Collected data using hierarchical linear regression modeling to account for the clustering of children within classrooms. The researchers will also use a series of regression models and multi-level models to determine whether the intervention promotes student outcomes and whether it supports teachers' and families' positive attitudes toward mathematics. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.