A cross-cultural longitudinal research project will be conducted (1) to compare the development of informal mathematical cognition in 3- to 6-year-old Chinese, Japanese, and American children, and (2) to investigate how these cultures support children’s early mathematical development in multiple learning environments.  We will include children from families representing different socioeconomic strata or parent-education levels in all three to ensure that variation within cultures as well as between cultures will be addressed in the research.  Two intensive studies of young children’s mathematical learning environments will be conducted to examine the nature and extent of support for informal mathematical development that children are receiving at home and in classroom environments across diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Our investigation of how young children’s learning environments support early mathematical development is informed by the theoretical construct of “the developmental niche” which includes three subsystems: (1) the physical and social settings in which the child develops, (2) culturally influenced customs of child rearing and care, and (3) knowledge and belief systems of parents, teachers, and other caregivers about children’s behavior, learning, and development.  We will employ several converging methodologies to study each of these subsystems in the home and classroom so as to yield a more comprehensive account of the support for early mathematical development in China, Japan, and the United States. We anticipate that these studies will enable us to map specific relationships between children’s mathematical learning environments and their concomitant mathematical development.  The findings of this research will reveal when and how to support effectively the development of children’s informal mathematical knowledge prior to the onset of formal mathematics instruction.  Moreover, in the United States, these results will have implications for standards-based education reform efforts in mathematics and will inform federal, state, and private preschool programs’ efforts to accommodate to the nation’s need for all children to enter school ready to learn school mathematics.

The Cross-Cultural Math Project is funded by NSF as part of the Interagency Education Research Initiative.  Participating agencies include the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Education, and the National Institutes of Health.