State and trait effects on individual differences in children's mathematical development.

ABSTRACT: Substantial longitudinal relations between children's early mathematics achievement and their much later mathematics achievement are firmly established. These findings are seemingly at odds with studies showing that early educational interventions have diminishing effects on children's mathematics achievement across time. We hypothesized that individual differences in children's later mathematical knowledge are more an indicator of stable, underlying characteristics related to mathematics learning throughout development than of direct effects of early mathematical competency on later mathematical competency. We tested this hypothesis in two longitudinal data sets, by simultaneously modeling effects of latent traits (stable characteristics that influence learning across time) and states (e.

SUBMITTER: Bailey DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4292922 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature