The Prevention, Identification, and Cognitive Determinants of Math Difficulty.

TLDR

The study evaluated first‑grade preventive tutoring for math, estimated math disability prevalence and severity, and examined pre‑treatment cognitive predictors of math development. A randomized trial with 564 first graders (127 at risk) delivered 3‑times‑weekly tutoring for 16 weeks, with pre‑treatment cognitive and academic assessments and post‑treatment math outcome measurements. Tutoring improved computation and concept/application skills but not fact fluency, lowered math‑disability prevalence (varying by identification method and domain), and attention uniquely predicted end‑of‑year math performance, with nonverbal problem solving, working memory, and phonological processing also contributing depending on the math domain.

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of preventive 1st-grade tutoring in mathematics, estimated the prevalence and severity of mathematics disability, and explored pretreatment cognitive characteristics associated with mathematics development. Participants were 564 first graders, 127 of whom were designated at risk (AR) for mathematics difficulty and randomly assigned to tutoring or control conditions. Before treatment, all participants were assessed on cognitive and academic measures. Tutoring occurred 3 times weekly for 16 weeks; treatment fidelity was documented; and math outcomes were assessed. Tutoring efficacy was supported on computation and concepts/applications, but not on fact fluency. Tutoring decreased the prevalence of math disability, with prevalence and severity varying as a function of identification method and math domain. Attention accounted for unique variance in predicting each aspect of end-of-year math performance. Other predictors, depending on the aspect of math performance, were nonverbal problem solving, working memory, and phonological processing.