Western News - Faculty of Social Science

Early childhood screening helps identify kids who are behind on foundational skills in literacy and math so efforts can be made to provide support before they fall behind. After the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read report was released in 2022, the provincial government mandated reading screening for children in senior kindergarten through Grade 2. Daniel Ansari, Western professor of psychology and education and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, says screening for math, or numeracy, is just as important. His team is developing a tool to help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NXktNRVVT0 Ansari, who is also principal investigator with the Numerical Cognition Laboratory in the Faculty of Social Science, spoke with Western News to explain why numeracy skills are important and how caregivers can support their children’s learning.

Western News: What advice do you have for parents and guardians about numeracy skills as the new school year begins?

Daniel Ansari (DA): There are many ways you can engage your child in numerical and mathematical activities, including adding up or estimating the cost of groceries, playing games that involve numbers and drawing attention to numerical relationships in everyday situations such as cooking or buying groceries. The second piece of advice is to be engaged with your child’s schoolwork. Ask what they are doing in math and then seek ways to practice what they are doing. It is important to ensure this continues to be fun for everyone. Frustrations and conflict around math at home can be harmful, so if you as parents don’t enjoy it, don’t force it. There is lots of data to show just how important numerical skills are, so treat them the same way as you treat reading and literacy development.

Tell us more about what it means to screen as part of early childhood education.

DA: Children come to school with different levels of skill in fundamental domains such as literacy and numeracy. One child may already be able to add, while another does not yet understand that eight is numerically larger than five. The reasons driving differences between learners are multifaceted. A part of it is linked with the learning opportunities children are afforded outside of their school building, be that formal – like tutoring for example – or informal, such as a parent who reads to their child. Screening is a way to recognize children who may need a bit of extra help. Schools in Ontario routinely carry out literacy screening. This allows educators and other professionals, such as speech and language pathologists, to recognize children who may not have all the building blocks in place and give them additional attention. This makes screening one of many tools schools can use to enhance equity and ensure all learners can benefit from instruction. It can also be used to chart student progress. By screening multiple times a year, education professionals can see how individual students in their classrooms are growing and recognize students who are not benefitting. It is important to note that screening is not intended to identify students with learning difficulties. Its primary purpose is to provide rapid, yet rich data to inform educators about differences between students in their classroom. Educators then need to use this information to tailor their instruction to the needs of different learners in their classrooms.

Why is numeracy screening important?

DA: Children come to the classroom with a diversity of backgrounds, skills and knowledge in numeracy and early math. This has the potential to create inequitable schooling pathways as students who come to school equipped with fundamental pieces of knowledge and skills go on to experience a learning trajectory of continuous growth, while those students who lack those skills early on find it hard to latch onto the instruction and continue to fall behind. Screening draws greater attention to students who have not yet learned fundamental skills and acquired foundational knowledge. Educators will have a good sense of the differences between students in their classrooms after a few weeks of instruction and screening can help to both confirm and refine their understanding.

Why is numeracy screening so far behind literacy screening?

DA: Literacy has been a subject of much attention from the media, policy makers and research funders, creating greater awareness of reading difficulties among the public as well as educators. Numeracy screening hasn’t had the same amount of attention, but that’s starting to change. For example, in Australia there was a large numeracy screening project over the past few years that covered a large portion of the country and, in future years, will allow educators to compare their students’ performance to those who have been screened before. That gives them an opportunity to assess an individual student’s skills relative to a population of students who live in a similar area and have undergone similar schooling. My team at the Numerical Cognition Laboratory has developed a numeracy screening tool that is available for free online. We are currently in the phase of gathering responses to be able to use it as a reference going forward.

What can be done to improve numeracy skills in early childhood?

DA: Much can be done! It’s important to build greater awareness of the importance of early numeracy skills. Secondly, we need more evidence-based programs in early numeracy education so teaching is aligned with what we know about how children learn best. Finally, we need to empower educators by ensuring they have ongoing training to give them the right tools and methods to help all children success in numeracy and early math.