Systematic review on the precursors of initial mathematical performance

Abstract

This study carried out a systematic review to identify which cognitive skills of general and specific domain are most frequently indicated as predictors of mathematical achievement of primary school students. For that, 62 studies were included from the EMBASE, American Psychological Association, PubMED/MEDLINE, and Educational Resources Information Center/ERIC databases. Results indicated that working memory and early numerical skills are the cognitive abilities most often reported as predictors of later mathematical achievement, regardless of the school grade and the type of mathematical performance considered. The findings gather evidence that contributes to the understanding of which cognitive skills are fundamental for long-term mathematics learning and that such skills can be inserted in school education as a resource to prevent later mathematical difficulties.

Keywords

• Mathematical achievement
• Cognitive skills
• Predictors