Mathematics Performance and Reading Skills is a
study of the correlation between a student's reading
skills and that student's ability to solve math
problems, particularly word problems. Fifty-eight
students from a private school in a southwest city
in the United States comprised the study's sample
population. The data for the quantitative analysis
was derived from students' scores on the Stanford
Achievement Test. A qualitative analysis was
employed by evaluating recordings of six students
attempting to solve word problems.
Reading skills are correlated to a student's ability
to solve math problems. However, this correlation is
not as strong as one may believe. Specifically,
a student's problem-solving sessions may reveal that
a student's ability to read and
understand word problems is not significantly
correlated to
that student's ability in the context of mathematics
problems involving decoding and setting.
Consequently, evaluation of another set of skills,
other than reading skills, may be necessary before
attempting to predict a student's success in
mathematics problem solving.