The effects of early numeracy interventions for students in preschool and early elementary: A meta-analysis

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of early numeracy interventions for young students, including students with disabilities or those at risk for math difficulty (MD). This study evaluated preschool, kindergarten, and 1st-grade interventions on early numeracy content, instructional features, and methodological components that improved students' math achievement. A total of 34 studies met inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis, with 52 treatment groups. The average weighted effect size for numeracy interventions with two outliers removed was moderate (g = 0.64), and the 95% confidence interval did not include zero [0.52, 0.76]. Results of the final metaregression model predicted larger treatment effects for interventions that included counting with 1-to-1 correspondence and were 8 weeks or shorter in duration. The results of the metaregression also showed that, on average, interventions were more effective for students with lower levels of risk for MD according to screening criteria compared to typically achieving students; interventions were less effective for students with higher levels of risk for MD according to screening criteria and risk according to low socioeconomic status compared to typically achieving students. Directions for future research and implications for educators implementing early numeracy interventions are discussed.