Early Math 

July 8, 2020 
 

 

DISCLAIMER 

Any content or opinions expressed in this 

webinar are not that of the U.S. Department of 

Education nor an endorsement of any products, 

program, or policies mentioned herein. 

QUESTIONS patti.curtis@ed.gov 

 

 

STEM Newsletter www.ed.gov/subscriptions 

STEM Webpage www.ed.gov/STEM 

ED Grants https://www2.ed.gov/fund/grants-apply 

Submit questions to: patti.curtis@ed.gov 
 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTINA CHHIN, PH.D. 

NATIONAL CENTER OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 

SARAH BRASIEL, PH.D. 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH 

KASSIE DAVIS 

CME FOUNDATION 

JENNIFER MCCRAY, PH.D. 

ERIKSON INSTITUTE 

LYNN FUCHS, PH. D. 

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 
 

 

 

Christina Chhin, PhD 

christina.chhin@ed.gov 

My Background: 

• BA in Psychology  MS  PhD in Human 

Development and Family Studies 

• Research Area: Gender differences in math & 

science achievement; Role of parent and peer 

socialization on academic and social outcomes 

• Program Officer, STEM Education at IES/NCER for 

14 years 

Sarah Brasiel, PhD 

Sarah.Brasiel@ed.gov 

• My Background: 

• PhD in Mathematics Education 

• Prior K-12 Math, Science and Special Education 

Teacher (18 years), college faculty/instructor (4 years) 

• Research Area: STEM teacher professional 

development, STEM interventions for students with or 

at risk of disabilities, Education Technology 

• Program Officer, STEM in Special Education at 

IES/NCSER for 4 years 

66 
Early Math Resources and Funding Opportunities at the 

Institute of Education Sciences 

Sarah Brasiel Christina Chhin 

National Center for National Center for 

Special Education Education Research 

Research 
 

 

What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides 

Teaching Math to Young Children 

This practice guide provides five recommendations for teaching math to 

children in preschool, prekindergarten, and kindergarten. 

Resources for Educators of Young Children 

Developing Fractions Instructions for K-8 

This practice guide presents five recommendations intended to help 

educators improve students’ understanding of fractions. 

Resources for K-8 Educators 

8 
 

 

 

What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides (cont.) 

Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention 

(RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools: 

Taking early action may be key to helping students struggling with mathematics. 

Resources for Educators 

Coming in Early 2021 - Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: 

Interventions in the Elementary and Middle School Grades 

Encouraging Girls in Math and Science 

The objective of this guide is to provide teachers with 

specific recommendations that can be carried out in the classroom without 

requiring systemic change. 

9 
10 
 

 

 

 

 

Additional Resources 

• IES STEM page 

• Synthesis of IES-Funded Research 

on Mathematics: 2002–2013 

• A Compendium of Math and 

Science Research Funded by NCER 

and NCSER: 2002–2013 

• Mathematics Reports and Resources 

from the Regional Educational 

Laboratories (RELs) 

11 
Early Math Grants Funded by NCER & NCSER 

National Center for Education 

Research (NCER) 

2002-2019 

National Center for Special 

Education Research (NCSER) 

2006-2019 

# of Math 

Grants Budget Total 

# of Math 

Grants Budget Total 

Grades PK-3 123 $223,576,470 33 $68,785,141 

Grades 4-Adult 187 $313,962,801 24 $44, 249,009 

Total Math 

Grants 310 $537,539,271 57 $113,034,150 

12 
Funding Opportunities 

1313 
FY2021 IES Grant Competitions 

National Center for Education Research (NCER) National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) 

Education Research Grants (84.305A) Special Education Research Grants (84.324A) 

Research Training Programs in the Education 

Sciences (84.305B) 

Research Training Programs in Special Education 

(84.324B) 

Education Research and Development Centers 

(84.305C) 

Research using NAEP Process Data for Learners with 

Disabilities (84.324P) 

Statistical and Research Methodology (84.305D) Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replication 

in Special Education (84.324R) 

Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replication 

(84.305R) 

Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education 

Policymaking (84.305S) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 
 

 

Important Dates for Research Grant Programs 

Application 

Deadline 

(Grants.gov) 

Letter of Intent Due 

Date 

(iesreview.ed.gov) 

Application 

Package Posted 

(Grants.gov) 

Start Dates 

August 20, 2020 

No later than 

11:59:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time 

June 11, 2020 June 11, 2020 July 1, 2021 

to 

Sept 1, 2021 

15 
 

 

 

About Me 

Kassie Davis 

kassie.davis@cmegroup.com 

• I’m the founding Executive Director of CME Group Foundation. The Foundation is affiliated with CME Group, the 

world’s largest and most diverse futures exchange. 

• My mother was a kindergarten and first grade teacher. She instilled a love of math in me at an early age. 

• I have a BA in Retail Merchandising from Stephens College and an MBA in Marketing from Loyola University 

Chicago. 

• I spent the first half of my career in fashion merchandising, using math everyday. 

• I’ve been fortunate to spend the second half of my career in grantmaking – corporate, community foundation and 

state government. 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

 

 

Our Mission 

CME Group Foundation strives to empower future generations through education, 

equipping today’s students to meet tomorrow’s challenges. They will shape the future of the 

world’s most important industries – including our own – so we give them the tools they need 

to achieve their full potential, including: 

• Ensuring disadvantaged young children become proficient at math at the appropriate 

grade or developmental level; 

• Providing low-income K-12 students with computer science and financial education; 

• Using technology to personalize learning and improve outcomes for disadvantaged 

students; and 

• Helping low income students succeed in college and career. 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 18 
 

 

 

CME Group Foundation Early Math Education Initiative 

Rationale: 2008 research indicated preschool children’s knowledge of math predicts later 

school success into high school and is a better predictor of later reading achievement than 

early reading skills. An NSF report indicated preschool and elementary teachers math 

content and pedagogy knowledge was quite limited. 

CME Group Foundation began funding Early Math in 2008, and officially launched an 

initiative in 2010. 

The Foundation has invested over $11 million through 2020 in: 

• Professional Development for Teachers of Young Children 

• Family Engagement in the Math Learning of Young Children 

• Influencing Early Childhood Mathematics Policies 

• Early Childhood Teacher Preparation in Mathematics 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 19 
CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

 

 

 

Early Math Initiative – What Did We Learn? 

• “It All Adds Up” report by Voices for Illinois Children 2014 

• PD should be intensive and sustained. 

• PD should include teams of teachers from the same schools and grade levels. 

• Principals/school leaders should participate in PD, too. 

• Coaches should provide in class support and reflection. 

• Schools should provide time for teachers to participate in professional learning 

communities within their schools. 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elementary Math Specialist Pilot Program 

• Initiated by CPS Office of Mathematics in 2016. 

• After several years of train-the-trainer PD with university partners for CCSS– 

Math, CPS wanted to launch a pilot. 

• CPS, DePaul University, UChicago and University of Illinois Chicago planned a 

5 semester, 7 quarter curriculum. 

• Each university trained 15 teachers in the two-year pilot. Teachers were 

selected by their principal. 

• Universities met monthly with CPS and the Foundation to align their work. 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
EMS Landscape Study Design 

• Mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative 

• Three surveys 

- EMS District Survey 

- EMS School Survey 

- EMS Teacher Cohort Survey 

• Interviews with key Illinois stakeholders 

- Educator organizations 

- Regional Offices of Education/Intermediate Service Centers 

- Universities 

• Interviews with EMS leaders in other states 

- California 

- Maryland 

- Oregon 

- Pennsylvania 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
EMS Cohort Teachers Collaborating and Supporting Colleagues 

Teacher Survey 

I feel more confident to collaborate with other teachers about mathematics 

teaching and learning. 

I feel more prepared to help a peer teacher with a math lesson. 

I have gained useful information that will help me work productively with other 

teachers to improve mathematics teaching and learning. 

I feel more confident to advocate for supports teachers in my building need to 

improve mathematics instruction. 

I feel more prepared to support other teachers’ teaching of mathematics. 

0% 

Strongly Agree Agree 

10% 20% 

Disagree 

30% 40% 50% 60% 

Strongly Disagree 

70% 80% 90% 100% 

84% 16% 

84% 16% 

80% 20% 

76% 24% 

76% 24% 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
Overwhelming District Support for Elementary Mathematics 

Specialist Endorsement 

District Survey 

14% 

86% 

No 

Yes 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
School Leaders Indicated Illinois Should Offer the Elementary 

Mathematics Specialist Endorsement 

School Survey 

10% 

90% 

No 

Yes 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

 

 

Elementary Math Specialist Program Today 

• UChicago presented the Landscape Study to the Illinois State Board of 

Education (ISBE) in February. ISBE agreed to consider micro-credentials 

(endorsements) for EMS and EMT. 

• UChicago is designing a report to present to a wider audience later this year. 

• DePaul University, UChicago and University of Illinois Chicago and Governors 

State University are all training cohort 2 and pivoted to remote instruction in 

March. 

• CPS has convened a PLC of cohort 1 teachers for monthly meetings and bimonthly meetings with their principals and a teacher colleague. 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

To learn more about our grantees, 

please visit cmegroupfoundation.org or 

contact a member of our team 

A Decade in the Making: Early Math Education Initiative Seeks Broad Impact. Principles for 

Effective Education Grantmaking. Case Study No. 18 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer McCray, Ph.D. 

Associate Research Scientist 

Principal Investigator, Early Math Collaborative 

Erikson Institute 

jmccray@erikson.edu 

https://earlymath.erikson.edu 

• Former preschool teacher and devotee of cognitive developmental science 

• Got my master’s and doctoral degrees both at Erikson....I just never left! 

• Love to walk, cook, and read 

• Got a birdbath for Mother’s Day and am trying to become ornithologically aware, but it is 

slow going 

• Married to a social worker, with two daughters—one is just post-college and is the horse 

wrangler at a summer camp, the other will be a high school junior next year and just 

received her driver’s permit 

• Pandemic-inspired new hobbies include gardening and sketching 

29 

CME GROUP PUBLIC © 2020 CME Group. All rights reserved. 29 
Why Does Early Math Matter? 

Department of Education STEM Webinar 

July 8, 2020 

Jennifer McCray, Ph.D. 

Associate Research Scientist 

Principal Investigator, Early Math Collaborative 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

 
Why does early math matter? 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

31 
Positive outcomes in math strongly predict a wide variety of

other good outcomes 

Number 

System 

Knowledge 

Functional 

Numeracy 

Employability 

and Wages 

Retention 

Rate 

1st Grade 

7th Grade 

High School (Geary, et al., 2013) Adulthood 

Early Math Collaborative 

Percent of public school students identified as English language learners, by grade

level: School year 2014-15

 

 

 

 
 

Power of math to predict outcomes

begins early 

Kindergarten entry 3rd to 8th grades 

Early reading skills Later reading 

achievement 

Early math skills Later math 

achievement 

(Duncan, et al., 2007) 
Access to mathematics in the United States varies 

along socio-economic lines 

Math Scores At Kindergarten Entry in the U.S. 

46 

44 

42 

Scale Scores 40 

Average Math 

38 

36 

34 

32 

30 

(ECLS-B) 

At or above Below 

Poverty Poverty 

(Denton Flanagan & McPhee, 2009) 
Things we can do to improve

early access to math 

•Enhance early childhood teacher

preparation and support 

•Work to shift attitudes 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

 

35 
What is “early math?” 

Early Math Collaborative 36 
Which of the figures below 

are the same? 

Early Math Collaborative 

 
How many? 

#unitchat 

Early Math Collaborative 38
Things we can do to improve

early access to math 

•Enhance early childhood teacher

preparation and support 

•Work to shift attitudes 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

 

39 
Let’s talk about teacher preparation and support I love 

children, but 

I hate math.... 

That’s ok, you 

can teach early 

childhood. The 

math there is 

just numbers 

and shapes.... 

Honest applicant to 

teacher ed program 

Well-meaning teacher 

educator 

Good 

thinking. I 

can do first 

and second 

grade math, 

no problem! 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

 
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): A Different Kind of 

Content Knowledge 

WHO 

Knowledge of 

Children 

WHAT 

Content 

Knowledge 

HOW 

Instructional 

PCK Methods 

Pedagogical 

Content 

Knowledge 

(Shulman, 1986, 1987) 

Early Math Collaborative 

 
WHO 

Knowledge of 

Children 

WHAT 

Content 

Knowledge 

HOW 

Instructional 

PCK Methods 

Pedagogical 

Content 

Knowledge 

• What is the best model, analogy, or representation to get this new idea across? 

• Which student questions and comments are more likely to generate discussion that is helpful for everyone? 

• What are the likely mistakes a learner may make while learning this material, and how can I use those errors to 

enhance everyone’s learning? 

Early Math Collaborative 

 

 

 
Improving preparation of and support to teachers 

“three” = = 3 

Early Math Collaborative 
Attitudinal shifts 

I’m just 

not a 

“math 

person.” 

Early Math Collaborative 
Early Math Collaborative 
Reading = Girl Math = Boy 

(Beilock, et al., 2010) 

Early Math Collaborative 

 
(Beilock, et al., 2010) 

47 

 

Early Math Collaborative 
 

 

 

The need to reduce ANXIETY about mathematics 

25% of students in four-year colleges and 80% of students in 

community colleges report moderate to high math anxiety

(Chang & Beilock, 2016) 

Children as young as six can suffer from math anxiety (Ramirez, et 

al., 2016) 

Math anxiety interferes with access to working memory, and 

impedes math performance (Ramirez, et al., 2016) 
 

 

 

Families, math anxiety and math achievement 

• Children as young as preschool are susceptible to gender 

stereotypes in math (Ambady et al., 2001) 

• Parents’ anxiety plays a role in children’s math anxiety and the

variables interact to predict several math education outcomes,

including math self-efficacy, math GPA, math behavioral intentions,

math attitudes, and math devaluing (Casad, Hale & Wachs, 2015) 

• Interventions involving parents and children together can have

powerful lasting effects on children’s academic achievement

(Berkowitz, et al., 2015; Schaeffer, Rozek, Berkowitz & Levine, 2018) 

4 

9 
Look for (and enjoy!) math in everyday tasks 

Early Math Collaborative 50 
Play math games! 

Early Math Collaborative 51 
Thanks for listening..... 

 

Now go have some fun with 

math!!! 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jennifer McCray 

jmccray@erikson.edu 

https://earlymath.erikson.edu 

Early Math Collaborative 52 
 

 

 

Lynn S. Fuchs, Ph.D. 

Vanderbilt University (lynn.fuchs@vanderbilt.edu) 

 Areas of expertise 

− Learning disabilities 

− Mathematical cognition 

− Classroom assessment 

− Academic intervention 

 Interesting experience 

− As a member of the 2007 U.S. 

Presidential delegation to the 

World Special Olympics, I spent a 

week in Shanghai with Margaret 

Spellings (Secretary of Education), 

Michelle Kwan (ice skating champion), 

and Ernie Banks (National Baseball Hall 

of Fame; Chicago Cubs). 
 

Intervention to Build 

Early Understanding of Fractions 

A Second Wave of Foundational Early Math 

IES STEM Briefing 

Lynn Fuchs 

Vanderbilt University 

July 8, 2020 

IES R324D130003 
 

 

 

 

Understanding of Fractions: 

A Second Wave of Foundational Early Math 

 At preschool and the primary grades, a major focus of 

early math is whole numbers. 

 Even when the preschool and primary-grade focus on 

whole numbers is strong, the whole-number 

achievement gaps of children with mathematics learning 

disabilities (MLD) widen over time. 

 The vulnerabilities associated with MLDs, along with 

these children’s widening whole-number achievement 

gaps, make them vulnerable to severe difficulty with a 

second wave of foundational early math. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fractions: 

A Second Wave of Foundational Early Math 

at Third Grade 

 This occurs at third grade, when schools first allocate 

systematic, sustained attention to the meaning of fractions. 

 Yet, the dominant model in intervention for students with 

MLD involves remediation of skill deficits. Support for 

learning grade-level content is rarely provided. 

 Without support for early understanding of fractions at third 

grade, students with MLD enter fourth grade with 

debilitating gaps in fraction knowledge, which can 

undermine long-term success in school mathematics and 

the work force. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The IES NCSER A3 Initiative 

and Third-Grade Fractions Intervention 

 In 2013, the IES National Center on Special Education Research 

(NCSER) funded the A3 Initiative to develop Next-Generation 

Interventions for students with learning disabilities. 

 One of the A3 goals is to address challenging academic standards, 

like fractions in third-grade intervention. The hope is that students 

with MLD complete third-grade intervention with fraction 

performance in the range of typically developing classmates. 

 In my portion of today’s briefing, my focus is the A3 randomized 

controlled trial that assessed the efficacy of this third-grade fraction 

intervention. 

 I’ll briefly summarize the nature of the intervention, the research 

design for studying its efficacy, and what we learned about teaching 

challenging fractions content in third-grade intervention for this 

population. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The A3 Fraction Intervention 

 Major instructional focus is fraction magnitude understanding. 

− Students connect & apply understanding of individual fraction 

magnitudes to compare and order fractions, place fractions on 

number lines, find fraction equivalencies, and solve word 

problems that involve fraction comparisons & fraction addition 

and subtraction. 

 Instruction relies on learning principles for building understanding & 

strategic competence. This includes, for example, 

− Teaching students to understand problems as belonging within 

problem types 

− Introducing solution strategies with worked examples 

− Providing cumulative review with a mix of problem types 

− Teaching students to use strategies to check the 

reasonableness of answers 

− Having students use goal-setting and monitoring strategies 

take turns to explain their thinking as they solve problems 
 

 

 

 

 

 

The A3 Fraction Intervention Efficacy Study: 

Overview of Methods 

 3rd-grade students, with very low whole-number skill, were randomly 

assigned to 

− Receive the A3 fraction intervention or 

− Continue in their typical school program (including the school’s 

math intervention for some students). 

 The A3 fraction intervention was conducted in small groups 3 times 

per week for 35 minutes per session over 13 weeks. 

 To index achievement gaps at the end of intervention, we included 

a follow-along sample of not-at-risk classmates. 

 Students completed fraction measures before and after intervention. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What We Found 

 The fraction outcomes of students with MLD who received the A3 

intervention were statistically significantly and dramatically stronger 

than those of students with MLD in the control group. 

 Effect sizes (ESs*) were large (~1.0 for each outcome measure). 

− Multiplication, a whole-number foundational skill needed for 

success with fractions (ES = 1.06) 

− Estimating where fractions go on a number line: (ES = 1.03 

− Ordering 3 fractions (ES = 1.13) 

− Fraction word problems (ES = 0.88) 

− Fraction addition & subtraction (ES = 1.00) 

− Released NAEP items (the study’s far-transfer measure) (ES = 

1.29) 

*An ES of 1.0 indicates the average posttest score for A3 students was 1 SD higher than 

the control group’s mean (e.g., On tests scaled with mean of 100 and SD of 15, a mean 

standard score of 100 for the intervention condition vs. 85 for the control group). 
 

 

What about the End-of-Third-Grade 

Fraction Achievement Gap? 

 The mean achievement gap closed for the MLD 

intervention group. Their end-of-study fraction 

performance was commensurate with their non-MLD 

classmates’ performance. 

 By contrast, the mean achievement gap of the MLD 

control group remained substantial: 0.85 SDs. 
 

Conclusions 

 This study supports the efficacy of this A3 intervention 

for addressing “second wave of early math” by 

− Demonstrating significantly and substantially 

stronger fraction knowledge compared to the MLD 

control group 

− Demonstrating that students complete intervention 

with dramatically narrowed achievement gaps 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Importance 

 The mathematics curriculum includes a series of “waves” that 

represent major shifts in mathematics content. Here, the shift is 

from whole to rational numbers; another big one is algebra. 

 Without dedicated intervention on these shifts at the time they’re 

incorporated into the school curriculum, MLD students accumulate a 

network of faulty mathematical platforms that undermine school and 

work success. 

 This was demonstrated in the A3 study with the substantial fraction 

knowledge gaps of MLD control group students as they prepare to 

enter fourth grade. 

 More broadly, findings of this A3 study suggest that students with 

MLD can succeed with challenging mathematics standards, when 

they receive high quality, structured intervention. 
 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTINA CHHIN, PH.D. 

NATIONAL CENTER OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 

SARAH BRASIEL, PH.D. 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH 

KASSIE DAVIS 

CME FOUNDATION 

JENNIFER MCCRAY, PH.D. 

ERIKSON INSTITUTE 

LYNN FUCHS, PH. D. 

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 
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