Does improvement of multiplication fluency improve fifth graders' overall Math achievement?

Abstract

New federal common core standards adopted by New York State require students to master rigorous material at earlier grades than previously. It is a concern for teachers that without a strong foundation in math fact fluency students will not be able to master the demands of the new curriculum. A study involving 10 and 11-year-old students, at a rural elementary school district, was conducted to determine how students’ math fact multiplication fluency, for numbers 0-10, affected their overall math achievement. Students’ math achievement was based on pre and post intervention STAR test results. The acronym STAR originally stood for the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading, but the Renaissance Learning has since expanded into the area of math. The study combined multiple intervention strategies to re-mediate the students with the lowest scores on STAR and/or multiplication fluency testing. Results of this study indicated that the interventions used were successful and that the students who received these interventions also showed significant growth in their overall math achievement based on STAR test results.