The Effectiveness of the Math in Focus: Singapore Math Curriculum in Kindergarten Presented by: Shawna Howard Research Professor: Andres Garcia, Ed.D April 29, 2013

The Importance of Math for Early Childhood Learners The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states that early childhood learners receiving a high quality, challenging and available mathematics education provide them with an important foundation of future understanding of mathematics. Early childhood learners should be exposed and receive effective, research-based curricula and teaching practices (NCTM, 2007)

Why Singapore Math? The Singapore Ministry of Education uses a pentagon with problem solving in the center to represent its curriculum framework. Singapore Math follows the pedagogical framework of a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach and emphasizing concept mastery.

Why Singapore Math? According to TIMSS ( Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), Singapore ranked first in the world in math achievement whereas the U.S. ranked in 16th place. Math in Focus Research Base (2012) reports, Singapore students have consistently been top performers in the TIMSS assessment and the Singapore Mathematics Program is chiefly believed to be responsible for this performance.

Why Singapore Math?

Singapore vs. the U.S. Mathematics Approach Singapore has a world-class mathematics system with quality components aligned to produce students who learn mathematics to mastery. The U.S. mathematics system does not have a centrally identified mathematical content that provides a clear focus. There are no national standards instead there are many state standards. Singapore’s mathematics framework consists of mathematically rich problem based textbooks, rigorous mathematics assessments and belief in teaching mathematics to mastery. The U.S.’s mathematics textbooks are not problem-based rich instead, their emphasis is on definitions and formulas. The U.S.’s framework lacks integrating rigorous mathematics content within its framework. The Singaporean Framework focuses on covering small number of topics in-depth allowing students to master the concept. The U.S. framework covers almost twice as many topics per grade so that all topics can be covered. Singapore textbooks do not repeat earlier taught contents because students are taught to mastery the first time around. U.S. textbooks include repetition and re-teaching of the same concept in two or three consecutive grades.

Participants and Sampling The participants used in this study were 22 Kindergarten students that were in my classroom The students were diverse in age, ethically, social economically and in gender. Of the 22 students, 32% (n=7) were 5 years old and 68% (n=15) of the students were 6 years old. The classroom consisted of 11 boys and 11 girls. Six of the students were English Language Learners (ESL) and two students receive special education services (speech impairment).

Measure, Design and Procedure Kindergarten students were administered a pre- evaluation in August – a district benchmark assessment (Measuring Growth in Mathematics). A quantitative research was collected for this study and the research method applied was a causal-comparative research one-group pretest-posttest design. After the district benchmark (MGM) was administered, the teacher utilized the Math in Focus: Singapore Math program during math instruction daily.

Data Analysis & Interpretation of Findings Student pretest and posttest were analyzed with a t Test design. A t Test paired two sample for mean was performed on four sections of the MGM Assessment. (Forward Number Word Sequence, Backward Number Word Sequence, Number Identification and Structuring Numbers). After re-assessing all four sections of the MGM, the data showed significance! Much progress in the student’s number sense skills, attitude towards math and their metacognition and process in problem solving improved immensely.

My Recommendations Ensuring that the district assessments are aligned with the newly adopted math curriculum – Math in Focus: Singapore Approach. Parent notices needs to reflect student growth/areas of improvement in Math in Focus vs. MGM. Integrating a technology component of the Math in Focus: Singapore Approach program such as computer games that students can have access to at school and at home in order to reinforce the Math in Focus lessons.