PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Program to overcome early US math deficiencies could improve workforce

America's future workers could benefit from improving a certain math skill in preschool

2013-01-30
(Press-News.org) COLUMBIA, Mo. -- One in five adults in the United States lacks the math competency expected of an eighth grader, according to the United States Center for Educational Statistics. University of Missouri researchers identified how a lack of a specific math skill in first grade correlated to lower scores on a seventh grade math test used to determine employability and wages in adults. Intervention programs designed to overcome this early math deficiency could prepare students for later employment, help them make wiser economic choices and improve the future U.S. workforce.

"Our study made a connection between child psychology and labor economics in order to examine the roots of America's shortage of mathematically proficient workers," said lead author David Geary, professor of psychological sciences at University of Missouri. "We isolated a specific skill that has real world importance in employability and observed how that skill related to grade-school mathematical performance. By identifying a specific numerical skill as a target, we can focus education efforts on helping deficient students as early as kindergarten and thereby give them a better chance at career success in adulthood."

The particular math skill Geary identified, "number system knowledge," is the ability to conceptualize a numeral as a symbol for a quantity and understand systematic relationships between numbers. In Geary's research, having this knowledge at the beginning of first grade predicted better functional mathematical ability in adolescence. On the other hand, skill at solving math problems by counting didn't correlate to later ability. Students who started behind in counting ability were able to catch up, whereas students who were behind in number system knowledge stayed behind their peers.

"An early deficit in number system knowledge creates a weak foundation for later learning," said Geary. "That weak foundation can lead to a lifetime of problems, not limited to reduced employment opportunities. Poor understanding of mathematical concepts can make a person easy prey for predatory lenders. Numerical literacy, or numeracy, also helps with saving for big purchases and managing mortgages and credit card debt."

Geary's study involved 180 13-year-olds who had been assessed every year since kindergarten for intelligence, memory, mathematical cognition, attention span and achievement. All of these factors were controlled for in the analysis of scores on the employability tests administered in seventh grade. Demographic differences also were accounted for along with other factors.

### The study, "Adolescents' Functional Numeracy is Predicted by Their School Entry Number System Knowledge," was published in the journal PLOS ONE. Mary Hoard and Lara Nugent, who are both senior research specialists at MU, were co-authors along with Drew Bailey, MU doctoral graduate and now postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. Geary is Curators' Professor and a Thomas Jefferson Fellow in the Department of Psychological Sciences in MU's College of Arts and Science. END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Vegetarianism can reduce risk of heart disease by up to a third

2013-01-30
The risk of hospitalisation or death from heart disease is 32% lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish, according to a new study from the University of Oxford. Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in developed countries, and is responsible for 65,000 deaths each year in the UK alone. The new findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that a vegetarian diet could significantly reduce people's risk of heart disease. 'Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure, ...

Erectile dysfunction drug also helps men ejaculate and orgasm

2013-01-30
NEW YORK (January 30, 2013) -- New data suggests the erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Cialis may also be beneficial in helping men who have problems with ejaculation and orgasm, report researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in the February issue of the British Journal of Urology International. Cialis is currently approved for the treatment of ED, benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) and for treatment of men with both conditions. Their study, a meta-analysis of 17 double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of men with ED, is the first ...

Pathway for membrane building blocks

Pathway for membrane building blocks
2013-01-30
The lipid molecules of membranes, also known as phospholipids, are composed of two elements: A hydrophilic head and two long-chain fatty acids. The molecules form a bilayer in the membrane, with all of the heads pointing outwards and the fatty acid chains hanging in a zip-like interlay position. Biomembranes are constantly reorganized or renewed, for example whenever cells divide. The cell is constantly creating new phospholipids that have to align themselves – which they do in both layers of the biomembrane. However, cells only produce phospholipids on one side of the ...

How to be a social climber

2013-01-30
The researchers have carried out a social network simulation: each individual is represented by a node, while links, connecting the nodes, represent social interactions. Each individual has the tendency to enhance their social importance, and to do so they necessarily have to connect with the "most central nodes", that is, to the people who count. However, to advance socially an individual has to break with the past: technically speaking, abandon old nodes and connect with the most central ones. But how many have an inclination to break up with old connections to aim high? ...

Understanding the historical probability of drought

2013-01-30
Droughts can severely limit crop growth, causing yearly losses of around $8 billion in the United States. But it may be possible to minimize those losses if farmers can synchronize the growth of crops with periods of time when drought is less likely to occur. Researchers from Oklahoma State University are working to create a reliable "calendar" of seasonal drought patterns that could help farmers optimize crop production by avoiding days prone to drought. Historical probabilities of drought, which can point to days on which crop water stress is likely, are often calculated ...

Broker fees from mutual funds affect advice; predict worse performance, new study says

2013-01-30
Toronto – Brokers are supposed to recommend investments that are in the best interests of their clients. But a study published in the February 2013 issue of the Journal of Finance has found that mutual funds offering higher broker fees attract the most investments, especially when the broker is not affiliated with the mutual fund company. Every additional dollar paid to a broker corresponds with another six dollars invested into the fund, and another fourteen dollars if the broker is an unaffiliated third party whose compensation depends exclusively on sales commissions. ...

New target to stop cancer's spread discovered by Georgia State scientists

2013-01-30
Disrupting a key interaction between two types of proteins in cells inhibits the spread of cancerous cells, providing researchers with a new pathway toward developing cancer-fighting drugs, according to new findings by Georgia State University scientists. Cell migration is essential for the spread of cancerous cells, also known as metastasis, as well as for other diseases. The research team in the labs of Zhi-Ren Liu, professor of biology, and Jenny Yang, professor of biochemistry, studied the interaction of two molecules, p68 RNA helicase and calcium-calmodulin. Interrupting ...

NTU research embraces laser and sparks cool affair

NTU research embraces laser and sparks cool affair
2013-01-30
Bulky and noisy air-conditioning compressors and refrigerators may soon be a thing of the past. With the latest discovery by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), current cooling systems which uses refrigerant harmful to the ozone layer could be replaced by a revolutionary cooling system using lasers. This discovery, published and featured on the cover of the 24 January 2013 issue of Nature, the world's top scientific journal, could also potentially lead to a host of other innovations. This includes making huge Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, ...

Study finds little progress in participation of early-career RNs in hospital QI

2013-01-30
Nurses are the largest group of health care providers in the U.S., and health care leaders and experts agree that engaging registered nurses (RNs) in quality improvement (QI) efforts is essential to improving our health care system, patient care and our nation's health. Unfortunately, despite studies demonstrating the value of nurse-led quality improvement efforts, far too few nurses are involved in these efforts, and the number is not growing, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality. The study—part of the RN Work Project funded by the Robert ...

Campus as laboratory: U-M student biologists use Diag trees to help solve gypsy moth mystery

2013-01-30
ANN ARBOR—Working beneath the towering oaks and maples on the University of Michigan's central campus Diag, undergraduate researchers and their faculty adviser helped explain an observation that had puzzled insect ecologists who study voracious leaf-munching gypsy moth caterpillars. The caterpillars, which defoliate and sometimes kill stands of trees in the Upper Midwest and the Northeast, are especially fond of oaks, but sugar maple trees appear to be relatively resistant to the European pest. Biologists wondered whether the caterpillars shun sugar maples in part because ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Program to overcome early US math deficiencies could improve workforce
America's future workers could benefit from improving a certain math skill in preschool