Decrypting the codes: Investigating a reading intervention’s impact on math problem solving and calculation fluency

Abstract

Links between reading and math are ubiquitous, but few studies examine causal mechanisms between reading and math. Using open randomized reading intervention data (Connor et al., 2013; van Dijk et al., 2022), we examined a reading intervention’s impact on calculation fluency and problem-solving growth as well as the mechanisms of reading intervention’s relation to calculation fluency. Twenty-eight teachers and 511 first-grade students (82% White, 6% Hispanic, 53% Female, Age M[SD] = 6.7[0.45]) were randomized to reading treatment or a math intervention control group. Reading intervention had a small impact on math applied problem solving. In addition, increases in word-level reading due to the intervention impacted calculation fluency, supporting the existence a causal mechanism of language in calculation fluency.