[Conceptualizing and Measuring the Quality of Adaptive Learning Support in Kindergarten Using Mathematical Board Games. A Study in Germany and Switzerland]. / Konzeptualisierung und Messung der Qualität der adaptiven Lernunterstützung in Lernsituationen mit mathematischen Regelspielen im Kindergarten. Eine Studie in Deutschland und der Schweiz.

Good adaptive support by educational professionals is crucial for pre-school children's mathematical learning. Thus there is a need for appropriate instruments to evaluate the quality of the planning, implementation, and reflection process for mathematical learning opportunities in kindergarten. Existing instruments tend to focus on micro-adaptive learning support (MI-ALS), which considers the interaction between the professionals and the children. The quality of macro-adaptive learning support (MA-ALS), the teachers' planning of and reflection on learning opportunities, has yet to be comprehensively investigated. MA-ALS is important for the acquisition of subject-related (mathematical) competence, an aspect of kindergarten education that is gaining in importance in the pre-school curricula of many countries.The quality of mathematical learning support in kindergarten is conceptualized by differentiating between the quality of MA-ALS and MI-ALS. MI-ALS is also divided into general support (group management, emotional warmth) and subject-related support (learning stimulation, subject-specific language). A rating tool for analyzing the quality of mathematical learning support is presented and its psychometric quality is assessed. The tool is then used to analyze the teaching quality in two guided play situations (recorded) and two interviews each with 145 education professionals in Germany and Switzerland. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirms the validity of the distinction between group management, emotional warmth and subject-related support. The relationship between the level of MI-ALS and MA-ALS, the training of the teachers (academic vs non-academic), and the educational context (Germany vs Switzerland) is examined. The results corroborate the importance of including planning and reflection as a dimension of learning support quality.

Remediation for Students With Mathematics Difficulties: An Intervention Study in Middle Schools.

As empirical studies have consistently shown, low achievement in mathematics at the secondary level can often be traced to deficits in the understanding of certain basic arithmetic concepts taught in primary school. The present intervention study in middle schools evaluated whether such learning deficits can be reduced effectively and whether the type of instruction influences students' progress. The sample consisted of 123 students in 34 classes, split among one control group and two intervention groups: (a) small group instruction and (b) independent work partially integrated into regular classrooms. Over a period of 14 weeks, students were taught basic concepts, such as place value and basic operations. In addition, they practiced fact retrieval and counting (in groups). Multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that the interventions can be used to reduce given deficits.