State-wide, students who received the specialized instruction significantly outperformed their peers.

Kindergarteners finished the year scoring higher than 64% of all students nationally, whereas their peers who did not receive the specialized instruction scored higher than only 36% of all students.

Equally impressive, first-graders who were part of the program scored higher than 49% of all students. Considering that these students started the year scoring higher than only 7-8 % of all students, the gains are dramatic.

"We couldn't be more pleased with these results," said Alice Gabbard, KCM director of diagnostic intervention. "To see that the Mathematics Intervention Initiative is having such a strong and immediate impact is extremely encouraging. We hope for continued support to sustain this program because it is desperately needed for building a foundation in numeracy that will allow all Kentucky students to excel."

Just as early literacy intervention has received much focused effort in recent years, early number skill intervention is beginning to get equal attention. Early numeracy benefits children by establishing foundational concepts and skills and also provides them with greater confidence in their abilities to think and to explain their thinking, Gabbard added.

"I have learned so much about how children think about doing math, and I would never teach math the same way in the regular classroom again," said Amy Howard.

"I have learned how children think about math concepts, as well as teaching strategies to support that thinking and learning process. I have grown so much as a math teacher because of this program," said Shelly Scott.

Staff members at the KCM, which is housed at Northern Kentucky University, coordinate the training for the Mathematics Intervention teachers. Jonathan Thomas, assistant director of diagnostic intervention at the KCM and doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati, said there is a great need for time and attention to be dedicated to young students, because there is a wide-spread misconception that first-grade math is easy.

"The KCM provides training and support to allow teachers to learn and engage in ongoing discussions about the complexities of teaching primary mathematics," he said. "One of the goals of teacher training is awareness of
specifically what a child understands.

"For example," he continued, "when a child looks at the numeral 12 and  says 'twelve,' does the child just see a squiggle that matches the word?  Does he understand that 12 is ten and two or think that it is a one and a two? Is the child able to think about the parts within the 12, such as seven and five? Understanding exactly how children think allows teachers to
provide the most effective instruction."

Howard and Scott were two of 45 Mathematics Intervention teachers who were funded for two years by the Kentucky Department of Education. Another 41 teachers received two years of funding beginning in the 2007-08 school year, and an additional 40 schools are slated to receive two-year grants beginning in the 2008-09 school year.