The Development of Children's Algebraic Thinking: The Impact of a Comprehensive Early Algebra Intervention in Third Grade. Blanton, M., Stephens, A., Knuth, E., Gardiner, A. M., Isler, I., & Kim, J. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 46(1):39–87, January, 2015.
The Development of Children's Algebraic Thinking: The Impact of a Comprehensive Early Algebra Intervention in Third Grade [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
This article reports results from a study investigating the impact of a sustained, comprehensive early algebra intervention in third grade. Participants included 106 students; 39 received the early algebra intervention, and 67 received their district's regularly planned mathematics instruction. We share and discuss students' responses to a written pre- and post-assessment that addressed their understanding of several big ideas in the area of early algebra, including mathematical equivalence and equations, generalizing arithmetic, and functional thinking. We found that the intervention group significantly outperformed the nonintervention group and was more apt by posttest to use algebraic strategies to solve problems. Given the multitude of studies among adolescents documenting students' difficulties with algebra and the serious consequences of these difficulties, an important contribution of this research is the finding that—provided the appropriate instruction—children are capable of engaging successfully with a broad and diverse set of big algebraic ideas.
@article{blanton_development_2015,
	title = {The {Development} of {Children}'s {Algebraic} {Thinking}: {The} {Impact} of a {Comprehensive} {Early} {Algebra} {Intervention} in {Third} {Grade}},
	volume = {46},
	issn = {0021-8251, 1945-2306},
	shorttitle = {The {Development} of {Children}'s {Algebraic} {Thinking}},
	url = {https://pubs.nctm.org/view/journals/jrme/46/1/article-p39.xml},
	doi = {10.5951/jresematheduc.46.1.0039},
	abstract = {This article reports results from a study investigating the impact of a sustained, comprehensive early algebra intervention in third grade. Participants included 106 students; 39 received the early algebra intervention, and 67 received their district's regularly planned mathematics instruction. We share and discuss students' responses to a written pre- and post-assessment that addressed their understanding of several big ideas in the area of early algebra, including mathematical equivalence and equations, generalizing arithmetic, and functional thinking. We found that the intervention group significantly outperformed the nonintervention group and was more apt by posttest to use algebraic strategies to solve problems. Given the multitude of studies among adolescents documenting students' difficulties with algebra and the serious consequences of these difficulties, an important contribution of this research is the finding that—provided the appropriate instruction—children are capable of engaging successfully with a broad and diverse set of big algebraic ideas.},
	language = {en},
	number = {1},
	urldate = {2024-04-06},
	journal = {Journal for Research in Mathematics Education},
	author = {Blanton, Maria and Stephens, Ana and Knuth, Eric and Gardiner, Angela Murphy and Isler, Isil and Kim, Jee-Seon},
	month = jan,
	year = {2015},
	pages = {39--87},
}

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