Predicting Children’s Development

This study examined how early childhood (EC) teachers’ mathematical content knowledge (MCK), mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK), mathematics anxiety, and mathematics enjoyment predicted children’s development in mathematics across two measurement occasions. Data on EC teachers ( n = 25) and children ( n = 236) was analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling in order to account for the nested data structure. Children’s age was included as control variable. Results revealed that none of EC teachers’ variables predicted children’s development while MPCK and mathematics enjoyment predicted their initial achievement. EC teachers’ professional knowledge and emotions might be too distal to children’s outcome in order to directly predict children’s development. Instead, more proximal EC teacher variables (e. g., instructional quality) might be better suited. The present study offers valuable insights into the complex relationship between teacher variables and children’s mathematics development. Its methodological and content-related considerations make it a valuable reference for future research.