CRANE RESEARCH FORUM RECAP – High-Quality Math Learning and Family Engagement Among Black Preschoolers and Their Families
April 2025
Research has demonstrated that families’ efforts to support their preschool-aged children’s math learning at home are significantly related to their children’s math skills which are, in turn, strong predictors of their later math achievement.
In this session, Dr. Ashli-Ann Douglas reviewed research literature on home math engagement and discussed a recent study on Black families’ involvement in, perspectives about, and desired resources for supporting their preschool-aged children’s math learning. Dr. Douglas also discussed how these findings can inform math instruction within preschool programs to better support the math development of Black preschoolers and improve family-school partnerships focused on early math.
Dr. Ashli-Ann Douglas is a Mathematics Education Researcher at WestEd and a co-facilitator of the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Early Math Interest Forum. She works to understand and improve the quality of mathematics teaching and learning, with special interests in early childhood education, student mindset, and culturally responsive-sustaining learning opportunities. She has disseminated research findings through professional development workshops, conference presentations, nontechnical reports, book chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Douglas earned a PhD and MS in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University and a BA in Psychology from Fisk University. She has also completed certificates in elementary school and college teaching and is a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse group design standards v5.0.
RESOURCES FROM DR. DOUGLAS
NAEYC’s developmentally appropriate practices on “Engaging in Reciprocal Partnerships with Families and Fostering Community Connections“
Vanderbilt University’s Math Books, Games, and Websites for Families
West Ed’s brief, authored by Dr. Douglas, on “A Strong Early Math Foundation Helps Students’ Later Academic Achievement”
Center for Family Math’s Family Math Toolbox
DR. DOUGLAS’ SLIDE REFERENCES
Ban, J., Msall, C., Douglas, A.-A., Rittle-Johnson, B., & Laski, E. V. (2024). Knowing what they know: Preschool teachers’ knowledge of math skills and its relation to instruction. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 246, 105996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105996
Baş, G. (2023). Effect of summer vacation on learning loss in mathematics: A meta-analysis of the findings. Yaşadıkça Eğitim, 37(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.33308/26674874.2023372572
Bullock, E. (2015). Do all lives matter in mathematics education?. Lansing: Michigan State University Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME) Colloquium, Michigan State University.
Claessens, A., & Engel, M. (2013). How important is where you start? Early mathematics knowledge and later school success. Teachers College Record, 29.
Douglas, A.-A., Msall, C., Logan, F., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2024). The impact of brief information-based interventions on the home math environment. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 94, 101682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101682
Douglas, A.-A., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2024). Parental early math support: The role of parental knowledge about early math development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 66, 124–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.10.003
Douglas, A.-A., Rittle-Johnson, B., Adler, R., Méndez-Fernández, A. P., Haymond, C., Brandon, J., & Durkin, K. (2024). “He’s probably the only teacher I’ve actually learned from”: Marginalized students’ experiences with and self-perceptions of high school mathematics. American Educational Research Journal, 61(5), 915–952. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312241266242
Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., Pagani, L. S., Feinstein, L., Engel, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Sexton, H., Duckworth, K., & Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428
DuShane, D., & Yu, S. (2023). Preschool and Childcare Expulsion: A Review of the Literature. Infants & Young Children, 36(3), 177. https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0000000000000245
Fyfe, E. R., Rittle-Johnson, B., & Farran, D. C. (2019). Predicting success on high-stakes math tests from preschool math measures among children from low-income homes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(3), 402–413. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000298
Giordano, K., Interra, V. L., Stillo, G. C., Mims, A. T., & Block-Lerner, J. (2021). Associations Between Child and Administrator Race and Suspension and Expulsion Rates in Community Childcare Programs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49(1), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01049-1
Joseph, N. M., Hailu, M. F., & Matthews, J. S. (2019). Normalizing Black Girls’ Humanity in Mathematics Classrooms. Harvard Educational Review, 89(1), 132–155. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-89.1.132
Mazzocco, M. M. M., Chan, J. Y.-C., Bye, J. K., Padrutt, E. R., Praus-Singh, T., Lukowski, S., Brown, E., & Olson, R. E. (2020). Attention to numerosity varies across individuals and task contexts. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 22(4), 258–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/10986065.2020.1818467
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2020). Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Position Statement. National Association for the Education of Young Children. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/contents
National Research Council. (2009). Mathematics learning in early childhood: Paths toward excellence and equity (C. T. Cross, T. A. Woods, & H. Schweingruber, Eds.). National Academies Press.
Nichols, J., Levay, K., O’Neil, M., & Volmert, A. (2019). Reframing Early Math Learning. FrameWorks Institute. https://www.hsfoundation.org/reframing-early-math-learning-sharing-new-frameworks-institute-report/
Ritchie, S. J., & Bates, T. C. (2013). Enduring links from childhood mathematics and reading achievement to adult socioeconomic status. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1301–1308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612466268
Watts, T. W., Duncan, G. J., Siegler, R. S., & Davis-Kean, P. E. (2014). What’s past is prologue: Relations between early mathematics knowledge and high school achievement. Educational Researcher, 43(7), 352–360. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X14553660