What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore how earlier arithmetic skills impact later comparison and ordering abilities in children.

March 26, 2026Open Access

Co-developmental trajectories of comparison, ordering, and arithmetic skills for children in grade 2 to grade 4

Key Points

The aim is to explore how earlier arithmetic skills impact later comparison and ordering abilities in children.
Assessments conducted across two cohorts in grades 2-3 and grades 3-4.
Sample included 9,552 children in grades 2-3 and 3,189 in grades 3-4 with a balanced gender distribution.
Utilized a multi-group cross-lagged panel model to analyze relationships between skills.
Earlier arithmetic skills significantly influence later comparison and ordering abilities.
The influence of early arithmetic was stronger than the reverse relationship.
Effect sizes for early arithmetic on later skills ranged from ß = .11 to .34.

Abstract

Abstract Digit comparison and order processing performance predict children's later arithmetic skills in the elementary years, presumably because they assess foundational symbolic number knowledge (i.e., cardinal and ordinal associations). However, the influence of earlier arithmetic on later magnitude and order processing has rarely been assessed. Numeracy skills were assessed in two longitudinal cohorts (50% girls) in 2021 and 2022; grades 2–3 (N = 9,552; Mage = 7.4) and grades 3–4 (N = 3,189; Mage = 8.4). A multi-group cross-lagged panel model showed that the longitudinal contributions from earlier arithmetic to later comparison and ordering were stronger (ß = .11–.34) than those in the reverse direction (ß = .03–.09), indicating early math development is both hierarchical and integrated.

Co-developmental trajectories of comparison, ordering, and arithmetic skills for children in grade 2 to grade 4

Key Points

Abstract

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