Effectiveness of Early Intervention Programs in Developing Early Mathematical Skills: A meta-Analysis

Abstract

Early intervention includes approaches to responding to young children may profit from targeted services. This study aims to synthesize recent evaluations of intervention programs of Big Math for Little Kids, Building Blocks, and Prekindergarten Mathematics Intervention Program in preschool and kindergarten children to determine the effectiveness of early intervention programs including experimental studies in last 15 years in developing early mathematical skills. Among 146 studies, 10 studies that met the inclusion criteria, which included experimental studies, publication bias, effect size, heterogeneity, moderator type of intervention program, the duration of the intervention, and the participants’ age. The results indicated a large effect size (Hedges’g=1.217) for the effectiveness of intervention programs according to random effects model and Cohen’s classification. While the results of moderator analyses highlighted a statistically meaningful difference in implementation periods, no significant differences were observed in terms of type of intervention program and age variables. Although meta-analyses regarding the effects of math interventions on school age students are available, there are hardly any meta-analyses addressing early intervention programs for enhancing preschool and kindergarten children’s math skills. The outcomes of the current study provided an evidence of the effectiveness of early intervention programs on math skills.

Keywords

• early intervention
• mathematical skills
• meta-analysis

Erken Matematik Becerilerinin Geliştirilmesinde Erken Müdahale Programlarının Etkililiği: Bir Meta-analiz Çalışması

Abstract

Erken müdahale, planlanan hizmetlerden fayda sağlayabilecek küçük çocukları desteklemeye yönelik yaklaşımları içerir. Bu çalışma, okul öncesi ve anaokulu çocuklarına yönelik Big Math for Little Kids, Building Blocks ve Prekindergarten Mathematics Müdahale programlarını sentezleyerek son 15 yılda deneysel çalışmaları içeren erken müdahale programlarının erken matematik becerilerini geliştirmedeki etkililiğini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. 146 çalışma arasından deneysel çalışma, yayın yanlılığı, etki büyüklüğü, heterojenlik, müdahale programının aracı değişkeni, müdahale süresi ve katılımcı yaşları gibi dâhil edilme kriterlerini karşılayan 10 çalışma değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, rastgele etkiler modeline göre ve Cohen’in sınıflandırmasına dayalı olarak müdahale programlarının etkililiğine ilişkin büyük bir etki büyüklüğü (Hedges’g=1.217) bulunmuştur. Moderatör analizleri sonuçları uygulama süreleri arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir farklılık ortaya koyarken, müdahale programı türü ve yaş değişkenleri açısından anlamlı bir farklılık gözlenmemiştir. Matematik becerilerine yönelik müdahalelerin ilkokul öğrencileri üzerindeki etkilerine ilişkin meta-analizler mevcut olmasına rağmen, okul öncesi ve anaokulu çocuklarının matematik becerilerini geliştirmeye yönelik erken müdahale programlarını ele alan meta-analizler neredeyse yoktur. Bu çalışmanın sonuçları, erken müdahale programlarının matematik becerileri üzerindeki etkililiğine dair bir kanıt sağlamıştır.

Keywords

• erken müdahale
• matematik becerileri
• meta-analiz

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