4:10 p.m., Aug. 13, 2009----Nancy Jordan, professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, has recently served on a National Research Council committee that has issued a call to action to improve early childhood mathematics education.

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The Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics of the National Research Council has released a publication, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity, which summarizes the research that has taken place on learning and teaching mathematics to young children, in order to guide efforts to support children's mathematics in the earliest years of schooling.

Jordan said the committee decided to produce the report because of the need to improve technical and scientific competencies of the American workforce. She added that mathematics proficiency is essential for success in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.

Historically, many early childhood educators have viewed math as unimportant or developmentally inappropriate for young children, but research indicates otherwise, the report says. As early as infancy, children are able to think about their world in mathematical ways; by 10 months of age, babies can distinguish a set of two items from a set of three.

Young children continue to expand their competence in informal, spontaneous ways -- by counting toys, for example, or pointing out shapes. Adult support in a positive learning environment is crucial to helping children expand their knowledge and see the mathematical aspects of everyday situations, the committee said.

“Well before first grade, children can learn ideas and skills that support later mathematics,” Jordan said. “It is particularly important for young children to learn whole number operations and relations as well as geometry and measurement concepts.”

The amount of time devoted to and focused on mathematics needs to be increased in all public and private preschool settings, the report says. Currently mathematics activities are often embedded in other lessons and secondary to other learning goals. But emerging research indicates that learning experiences in which mathematics is the secondary rather than the primary goal are less effective for promoting math learning.

Drawing on available evidence, the report recommends that mathematics instruction in early childhood settings concentrate on two major content areas. The first area is the concept of “number,” used by mathematics educators to encompass counting, determining relative quantities (less and more) and basic computational operations such as adding and subtracting. The second area is geometry, spatial thinking and measurement.

Within those areas, children should reflect on and discuss the mathematical reasoning used to solve problems. For example, children might practice measuring various objects using a wooden block and then discuss why it is important to use a standard unit of measure in determining whether one object is longer or taller than another.

The committee recommends in the report that a “coordinated national early childhood mathematics initiative should be put in place to improve mathematics teaching and learning for all children ages 3 to 6,” with the intention of ensuring that all children enter elementary school with the foundation they need for mathematical success.

The report was sponsored by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Copies of the report are available from the National Academies Press. University of Delaware readers may use the promotional code MATLEA to receive a 25 percent discount on the report. The report also may be read online for free.

The National Research Council, along with the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, make up the National Academies, independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter.