New Research Shows Fifth-Graders’ Knowledge of Fractions and Long Division Predicts Math Achievement in High School

CHICAGO —A fifth-grader’s understanding of fractions and long division predicts their knowledge of algebra and overall math achievement in high school according to a new research study published in the journal Psychological Science.  Amy Claessens, assistant professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and one of the study’s authors, believes the findings will strengthen efforts to improve math achievement among U.S. high school students, which has remained stagnant over the past 30 years – and significantly behind many other countries, including China, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and Canada.   

“We now know what we have long suspected to be true: kids who fall behind early with fraction and long division skills will stay behind once they reach high school,” Claessens said. “This knowledge should motivate educators and policymakers to devise and implement strategies to improve instruction and learning in these critical areas.”           

Claessens was part of a research team led by Carnegie Mellon University’s Robert Siegler that examined two nationally representative data sets, one from the U.S. and one from the United Kingdom. The U.S. set included 599 children who were tested in 1997 as 10-12 year-olds and again in 2002 as 15-17 year-olds. The set from the U.K. included 3,677 children who were tested in 1980 as 10-year-olds and in 1986 as 16-year-olds. Despite the data being collected in two different countries almost 20 years apart, and after statistically controlling for parents’ education and income, and for the child’s own age, gender, I.Q., reading comprehension level, and a host of other relevant factors, the importance of fractions and division for long-term mathematics learning was evident in both data sets.           

The research team, supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and by the National Science Foundation’s Developmental and Learning Science Group at the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Directorate, was comprised of eight investigators: Claessens; Seigler; U.C. Irvine’s Greg J. Duncan; the University of Michigan’s Pamela E. Davis-Kean, Maria Ines Susperreguy and Meichu Chen; the University of London’s Kathryn Duckworth; and Vanderbilt University’s Mimi Engel.

About the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

One of six professional schools at the University of Chicago, the Harris School of Public Policy seeks to enhance the understanding of public life by conducting policy-relevant research and preparing talented individuals to become leaders and agents of positive social change.