Reading to learn? The co‐development of mathematics and reading during primary school

Hübner, Nicolas; Merrell, Christine; Cramman, Helen; Little, John; Bolden, David; Nagengast, Benjamin

Abstract

Understanding how early reading and mathematics co-develop is important from both theoretical and pedagogical standpoints. Previous research has provided mixed results. This paper investigates the development of reading and mathematics in a longitudinal sample of N = 355,883 students from the United Kingdom (2005–2019) aged 5 to 12 (49% girls). Results indicate a positive relation between the development of the two domains. In addition, a substantial statistically significant positive association between prior reading scores and subsequent changes in achievement in mathematics was found, whereas changes in reading were smaller for students with a higher prior performance in mathematics. The findings suggest that acquiring good reading skills is highly relevant for developing mathematics skills. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Citation

Hübner, N., Merrell, C., Cramman, H., Little, J., Bolden, D., & Nagengast, B. (2022). Reading to learn? The co‐development of mathematics and reading during primary school. Child Development, 93(6), 1760-1776. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13817

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jun 22, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Deposit Date: Jun 29, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 3, 2023
• Journal: Child Development
• Print ISSN: 0009-3920
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8624
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 93
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1760-1776
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13817