The development of number line accuracy in elementary school children: A cross-country longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: Number line accuracy (NL accuracy) shows improvement over the course of a school education. However, there are practically no cross-country longitudinal studies of NL accuracy over the whole course of elementary school. Aims: This study investigated the developmental trajectories of NL accuracy and its types across the elementary school years in two countries—Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Sample(s): The analyses were carried out on the data collected from the sample of 508 schoolchildren at Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 (aged 6.4–11.9 years) from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, who were surveyed as part of the ‘Cross-cultural Longitudinal Analysis of Student Success’ project. Methods: The participants were administered the ‘Number Line’ computerized test task and a paper-and-pencil ‘Standard Progressive Matrices’ test at the end of each academic year. Results: During the course of the elementary school education, NL accuracy increases nonlinearly in both samples from Grade 1 to Grade 4, with a pronounced increase in the rate of improvement from the first to the second year. Cross-country differences in NL accuracy were observed during each year of schooling as well as in the growth of NL accuracy. The development of NL accuracy is described by a model with two developmental types: (1) ‘high start and growth’ (93% of the pooled sample) and (2) ‘low start and no growth’ (7%). Conclusions: Both NL accuracy and the rate of its growth during elementary school depend on educational conditions. Cross-country differences in the distribution of schoolchildren by these two developmental types were statistically insignificant.