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Are Early Numeracy Practices at Home Linked to Grade 4 Students’ Mathematics Dispositions, Engagement, and Achievement in the United Arab Emirates?

Maha Mohamed Abdulla Balala1* and Shaljan Areepattamannil1
  • 1 Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates

A growing corpus of research has demonstrated that home numeracy environments play a critical role in children’s early numeracy development (e.g., Bradley & Corwyn, 2016; Napoli & Purpura, 2018; Segers, Kleemans, & Verhoeven, 2015; Skwarchuk & LeFevre, 2015; Skwarchuk, Sowinski, & LeFevre, 2014). However, children’s early home numeracy experiences may vary tremendously from one cultural setting to another (see Dunst, Hamby, Wilkie, & Dunst, 2017). Differences in parental beliefs and expectations about numeracy learning across cultures may exacerbate gap in early numeracy development (see del Río, Susperreguy, Strasser, & Salinas, 2017; Skwarchuk & LeFevre, 2015). Therefore, more research across cultures is needed to better understand the relations of early numeracy practices at home with numeracy development. Hence, there were two major purposes for the present study: first, to investigate the relations of early numeracy practices at home with mathematics dispositions, mathematics engagement, and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates; and second, to examine the mediational roles of mathematics dispositions and mathematics engagement in the relationships between early numeracy practices at home and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates. Data for the study were drawn from the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) database. A total of 33,631 Grade 4 students (48% girls) participated in TIMSS 2015 surveys and assessments from the United Arab Emirates. The following research questions addressed the purpose of the study: (1) How well do early numeracy practices at home, before beginning primary school, predict mathematics dispositions (i.e., interest in mathematics and confidence in mathematics) among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates?; (2) How well do early numeracy practices at home, before beginning primary school, predict mathematics engagement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates?; (3) How well do early numeracy practices at home, before beginning primary school, predict mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates?; (4) To what extent do mathematics dispositions (i.e., interest in mathematics and confidence in mathematics) mediate the relationships between early numeracy practices at home and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates?; (5) To what extent does mathematics engagement mediate the relationships between early numeracy practices at home and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates? Results of structural equation modeling analyses, after accounting for student demographic characteristics, indicated that early numeracy practices at home were significantly positively associated with mathematics dispositions, mathematics engagement, and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates. Further, mathematics dispositions and mathematics engagement mediated the relationships between early numeracy practices at home and mathematics achievement among Grade 4 students in the United Arab Emirates. The findings of the study underline the pivotal role that early numeracy practices at home play in Grade 4 students’ numeracy development in the United Arab Emirates.

References

Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2016). Home life and the development of competence in mathematics: Implications of research with the HOME inventory. In B. Blevins-Knabe & A. M. B. Austin (Eds.), Early childhood mathematics skill development in the home environment (pp. 29-49). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
del Río, M. F., Susperreguy, M. I., Strasser, K., & Salinas, V. (2017). Distinct influences of mothers and fathers on kindergartners’ numeracy performance: The role of math anxiety, home numeracy practices, and numeracy expectations. Early Education and Development, 28(8), 939-955.
Dunst, C. J., Hamby, D. W., Wilkie, H., & Dunst, K. S. (2017). Meta-analysis of the relationship between home and family experiences and young children’s early numeracy learning. In S. Phillipson, A. Gervasoni, & P. Sullivan (Eds.), Engaging families as children’s first mathematics educators: International perspectives (pp. 105-125). Singapore: Springer.
Napoli, A. R., & Purpura, D. J. (2018). The home literacy and numeracy environment in preschool: Cross-domain relations of parent–child practices and child outcomes. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 581-603.
Segers, E., Kleemans, T., & Verhoeven, L. (2015). Role of parent literacy and numeracy expectations and activities in predicting early numeracy skills. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 17(2-3), 219-236.
Skwarchuk, S.-L., & LeFevre, J. A. (2015). The role of the home environment in children’s early numeracy development: A Canadian perspective. In B. Perry, A. MacDonald, & A. Gervasoni (Eds.), Mathematics and transition to school: International perspectives (pp. 103-117). Singapore: Springer.
Skwarchuk, S. L., Sowinski, C., & LeFevre, J. A. (2014). Formal and informal home learning activities in relation to children’s early numeracy and literacy skills: The development of a home numeracy model. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 121, 63-84.

Keywords: early numeracy practices at home, Mathematics dispositions, Mathematics engagement, mathematics achievement, TIMSS 2015, United Arab Emirates

Conference: 3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 11 Mar - 12 Mar, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Educational Neuroscience

Citation: Abdulla Balala M and Areepattamannil S (2018). Are Early Numeracy Practices at Home Linked to Grade 4 Students’ Mathematics Dispositions, Engagement, and Achievement in the United Arab Emirates?. Conference Abstract: 3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.225.00022

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Received: 11 Feb 2018; Published Online: 14 Dec 2018.

* Correspondence: Mrs. Maha Mohamed Abdulla Balala, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 002061@ecae.ac.ae