EXPLORING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' MATURE NUMBER SENSE AND GRADE-LEVEL MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT.

Students with mature number sense make sense of numbers and operations, use reasoning to notice patterns, and flexibly select the most effective and efficient problem-solving strategies (McIntosh et al., 1997; Yang, 2005). Despite being highlighted in national standards and policy documents (CCSS, 2010; NCTM, 2000), the association between students' mature number sense and other important outcomes is not well specified. For example, how does students' mature number sense relate to their grade-level mathematics achievement? We analyzed 153 upper elementary school students' scores on measures of mature number sense, fraction and decimal knowledge, multiplication fluency, and grade-level mathematics achievement. We found mature number sense to be measurably distinct from their fraction and decimal knowledge and uniquely associated with students' grade-level mathematics achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]