Arithmetic Accuracy in Children From High-and Low-Income Schools - What Do Strategies Have to Do With It?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

Study of kindergartners and first graders (N = 161) examines how accuracy in simple and complex addition relates to strategy use across low- and high-income groups. Low-income children show substantially lower accuracy, including higher error magnitudes, with low-income first graders less accurate than high-income kindergartners. High-income children more often employ sophisticated mental strategies, while lower-income peers rely on inefficient counting or inappropriate approaches. Strategy differences mediate the income–addition link and suggest instruction targets strategies to remedy arithmetic gaps.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Arithmetic Accuracy and Strategy Use

Study Purpose and Income Differences

Addition Strategy Types

Developmental Use of Strategies

AERA Open April-June 2016, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 1–14 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858416644219 © The Author(s) 2016. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com) Arithmetic Accuracy in Children From High-and Low-Income Schools: What Do Strategies Have to Do With It? Elida V. Laski Joanna Schiffman Marina Vasilyeva Anna Ermakova Boston College This study investigated income group differences in kindergartners’and first graders’(N = 161) arithmetic by examining the link between accuracy and strategy use on simple and complex addition problems. Low-income children were substantially less accurate than high-income children, in terms of both percentage of correctly solved problems and the magnitude of errors, with low-income first graders being less accurate than high-income kindergartners. Higher-income children were more likely to use sophisticated mental strategies than their lower-income peers, who used predominantly inefficient counting or inappropriate strategies. Importantly, this difference in strategies mediated the relation between income group and addition. Examining underlying strategies has implications for understanding income group differences in arithmetic and potential means of remedying it via instruction. Keywords: arithmetic, strategies, SES, income groups, early childhood The ability to accurately and efficiently solve arithmetic problems is critical for success in complex math problem solving (Cowan et al., 2011; Jordan, Kaplan, Olah, & Locuniak, 2006) . Instruction focuses heavily on addition in the first 2 years of school; children begin to solve simple addition problems in kindergarten and by the end of first grade are expected to be able to fluently solve problems with sums less than 20 (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). Yet, given the foundational importance of addition and the emphasis placed upon it in early childhood mathematics instruction, surprisingly few studies have examined variations in the addition accuracy and strategies of children from different economic backgrounds. The present study examined addition strategies, as well as accuracy, in kindergartners and first graders from low-income and high-income backgrounds. Specifically, it tested the hypothesis that strategy use mediates the relation between family income and this important early childhood math knowledge. In focusing on strategies, the study aimed to explore a proximal, and potentially malleable, process involved in income group differences in arithmetic. Addition Strategies Children can arrive at accurate and inaccurate solutions to addition problems through a variety of strategies. Examining children’s strategies provides greater insight into their understanding of arithmetic principles and numerical magnitudes than examining only accuracy (Canobi, Reeve,& Pattison, 2003; Carpenter, Franke, Jacobs, Fennema, & Empson, 1998; Geary, Bow-Thomas, & Yao, 1992; Lindberg, Linkersdörfer, Lehmann, Hasselhorn, & Lonnemann, 2013) . In fact, how children solve problems has been found to be more predictive of later mathematics achievement than the accuracy with which they solve problems (Geary, 2011) . There are four main types of strategies used by children to solve addition problems: count-all, count-on, decomposition, and retrieval (Geary et al., 1992; Geary, Bow-Thomas, Lie, & Siegler, 1996; Shrager & Siegler, 1998) . The count-all strategy involves counting out each addend and then counting the total (e.g., to solve 5 + 3, a child would first count to 5, then count to 3, then finally count from 1 to 8) . The count-on strategy involves counting up from one addend the value of the second addend (e.g., to solve 5 + 3, a child would count from 6 to 8) . Decomposition involves transforming the original problem into two or more simpler problems, using either a previously memorized number fact (e.g., to solve 7 + 6, a child might use knowledge that 6 + 6 =12

FAQs

How does children’s addition accuracy differ between low- and high-income groups?

Low-income children are substantially less accurate than high-income children on both percentage of correctly solved problems and the magnitude of errors. Low-income first graders show lower accuracy than high-income kindergartners.

What role does strategy use play in the income-related difference in addition?

Children from higher-income backgrounds are more likely to use sophisticated mental strategies, while lower-income peers use inefficient counting or inappropriate strategies. This difference in strategies mediates the relationship between income group and addition accuracy.

What are the main types of strategies children use for addition problems?

The study describes four main strategies: count-all, count-on, decomposition, and retrieval. Each strategy uses a different approach to solving addition from counting to recalling or transforming the problem.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley