Children’s Verbal, Visual and Spatial Processing and Storage Abilities: An Analysis of Verbal Comprehension, Reading, Counting and Mathematics

The importance of working memory (WM) in reading and mathematics performance has been widely studied, with recent research examining the components of WM (i.e., storage and processing) and their roles in these educational outcomes. However, the differing relationships between these abilities and the foundational skills involved in the development of reading and mathematics have received less attention. Additionally, the separation of verbal, visual and spatial storage and processing and subsequent links with foundational skills and downstream reading and mathematics has not been widely examined. The current study investigated the separate contributions of processing and storage from verbal, visual and spatial tasks to reading and mathematics, whilst considering influences on the underlying skills of verbal comprehension and counting, respectively. Ninety-two children aged 7- to 8-years were assessed. It was found that verbal comprehension (with some caveats) was predicted by verbal storage and reading was predicted by verbal and spatial storage. Counting was predicted by visual processing and storage, whilst mathematics was related to verbal and spatial storage. We argue that resources for tasks relying on external representations of stimuli related mainly to storage, and were largely verbal and spatial in nature. When a task required internal representation, there was a draw on visual processing and storage abilities. Findings suggest a possible meaningful separability of types of processing. Further investigation of this could lead to the development of an enhanced WM model, which might better inform interventions and reasonable adjustments for children who struggle with reading and mathematics due to WM deficits.

Reading to Learn? The Co-Development of Mathematics and Reading During Primary School

Understanding how early reading and mathematics co-develop is important from both theoretical and pedagogical standpoints. Previous research has provided mixed results, with some studies suggesting that mathematics is the leading indicator in this developmental process, whereas others have suggested that reading is. This paper investigates the development of reading and mathematics in a longitudinal sample of N = 355,883 students from the UK aged 5 to 12 (49% girls). The results suggest a positive relation between the development of the two domains. In addition, a statistically significant positive association between prior reading scores and subsequent changes in achievement in mathematics was found, whereas changes in reading were substantially smaller for students with a higher prior performance in mathematics.

Kindergarten in a Large Urban District

Using data from 82 classroom observations conducted in a large urban school district, we explore how kindergartners spend their time in general and across schools serving children from lower and higher income households. Consistent with prior research, we find that kindergartners spend the majority of instructional time on reading and mathematics, with little time devoted to other subjects. On average, 2.5 hours are spent on noninstructional activities such as transitions. Kindergartners in lower income schools spend more time on reading and mathematics and experience more noninstructional time. They also spend substantially less time being physically active and have fewer opportunities to choose their own activities than their peers in higher income schools.