An Evaluative Study of the Effects of Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics in the Early School Years.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of presenting a well structured time-telling program to children at the K-3 level. Twenty classes in two schools (two experimental and three control groups for each grade) participated in the study. Experimental group teachers were selected on three effectiveness criteria, and pretest, posttest, and retention test measures were therefore analyzed using descriptive statistics. The instruction, which lasted ten days and had as its terminal objective telling time to the nearest minute, was found to produce "educationally significant" differences only at the grade one level. No anxiety increases were detected as a result of using the program. In an appended paper, "Curriculum Decision: Learning Time Concepts and Skills," the author relates this instructional achievement to Piaget's car velocity experiments. Curriculum implications are discussed. (The paper is based on the author's doctoral dissertation.) (MM)