Published 2018-07-13
Abstract
Multiplicative reasoning is essential for students’ engagement with various mathematical concepts. Although the field’s understanding of children’s multiplicative concepts has grown over the past 30 years, relatively few studies have examined the development of multiplicative concepts with whole numbers, and even fewer have studied this phenomenon at scale. The present study reports on the development of an assessment of elementary students’ multiplicative concepts with whole numbers that can be used at a large scale. Findings suggest the initial version of the assessment has sufficient reliability and validity. Further, less than 20% of second grade students and approximately 50% of third grade students participating in the study engage in tasks with at least the first multiplicative concept.