Processes in the development of mathematics in kindergarten children from Title 1 schools

•Fall numeracy was important to spring numeracy and applied problems.•Fall fluid IQ and PA were uniquely related to spring numeracy.•Fall fluid IQ, PA, and STM were uniquely related to spring applied problems.

This study examined how well nonverbal IQ (or fluid intelligence), vocabulary, phonological awareness (PA), rapid autonomized naming (RAN), and phonological short-term memory (STM) predicted mathematics outcomes. The 208 participating kindergartners were administered tests of fluid intelligence, vocabulary, PA, RAN, STM, and numeracy in the fall of kindergarten, whereas tests of numeracy and applied problems were administered in the spring of kindergarten. Fall numeracy scores accounted for substantial variation in spring outcomes (R2 values = .49 and .32 for numeracy and applied problems, respectively), which underscores the importance of preschool math instruction and screening for mathematics learning difficulties on entry into kindergarten. Fluid intelligence and PA significantly predicted unique variation in spring numeracy scores (ΔR2 = .05) after controlling for autoregressive effects and classroom nesting. Fluid intelligence, PA, and STM significantly predicted unique variation in spring applied problems scores (ΔR2 = .14) after controlling for autoregressive effects and classroom nesting. Although the contributions of fluid intelligence, PA, and STM toward math outcomes were reliable and arguably important, they were small.