[MATHLINK] MCLS Symposium February 16

[MCLS Trainee]

Dear MCLS Community,

Please be sure to join us for our next symposium *“Longitudinal relations
between executive functioning and math learning”* tomorrow *Tuesday,
February 16 for our first *MCLS Late Night!* at 6pm EST // 11pm GMT // 7am
Singapore*. Come with your glass of wine, your nighttime tea, or your early
morning coffee! We're looking forward to presentations from Haobai Zhang
(University of Delaware, USA), Dana Miller-Cotto (University of Delaware,
USA), Andrew Ribner (University of Pittsburgh, USA), and Ee Lynn NG
(National Institute of Education, Singapore)! See below for an abstract.

MCLS Trainee is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MCLS Symposium February 16
Time: Feb 16, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2258337242?pwd=eVhxaXhuSm96dHFKSWRQL1hWMDJFZz09

Meeting ID: 225 833 7242
Passcode: MCLS2020b

Finally, be sure to mark your calendars for our upcoming events:
*Thursday, February 25 (11am EST // 2 hr workshop!)* - Online experiments
with children
*Tuesday, March 2 (9 am EST) *- Children's math engagement: Exploring
cognitive, contextual, and family influences
*Thursday, March 11 (11am EST)* - Insights into predictors and correlates
of proportional reasoning

Thanks!
The MCLS Training Board

*Abstract*
This symposium brings together researchers who are examining longitudinal
relations between cognitive and mathematical abilities, with a particular
emphasis on executive functions (EF). Many studies suggest EF and
mathematical abilities are strongly associated during the school years, yet
the direction and pattern of these relations at various stages of
development are not always clear. Longitudinal research is necessary to
uncover potential unidirectional and bidirectional relations and patterns
of development over multiple years (Peng & Kievet, 2020)

All of the presentations make use of large nationally representative data
sets with multiple time points: the publicly available Early Childhood
Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K:2011) in the U.S. and Singapore Kindergarten
Impact Project (SKIP). Such data sets provide unique opportunities to
examine directional relationships during the elementary school years and to
examine the influence of individual and group differences.

The first three presentations use the ECLS-K data set. Over 18,000 children
participated starting in kindergarten and to date data have been followed
through 5th grade. EF was directly assessed through measures of cognitive
flexibility (K- 5th grade), working memory (WM; K-5th grade), and
inhibitory control (4th-5th grade). Math achievement, assessed in the fall
and spring of each grade, measured concepts, procedures, and problem
solving. Using cross-lagged models, Zhang examined the bidirectional
relation between cognitive flexibility/WM and math achievement from K
through 5th grade, suggesting that EF influences math learning but math
learning also influences EF. Cotto-Miller Miller-Cotto employed latent
change score analyses to test the relationship between working memory and
mathematics skills in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade,
attending to the within and between effects. Ribner used latent class
analyses to examine co-occurring growth patterns in EF and math and found
six unique classes characterizing parallel growth in EF and math. Comparing
these with cross-lagged models of EF and math development, Ribner will
discuss implications for educational practice.

The fourth presentation presents data from the SKIP longitudinal data set,
which followed 1,500 children from the start of kindergarten to their first
year of primary school (ages 5-7). Drawing on data from SKIP and new data
collected from a subsample of SKIP participants at age 9, Ng examined later
math outcomes of children with different self-regulation profiles at
primary school entry. Moderators include factors associated with the child
(e.g., growth mindset) and home/parents (e.g., parents’ failure mindset,
home numeracy environment).

As a whole, the presentations elucidate key longitudinal relations between
aspects of EF and mathematical learning. Implications for intervention
design will be addressed.