Effective treatment of children with poor math abilities: Results of a meta-analysis

Children with poor mathematical abilities experience difficulties in many every-day situations. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to systematically summarize intervention studies that have evaluated intervention programmes in German-speaking children with poor math abilities. A total of eight studies with 328 children were included in the meta-analysis. The mean effect size was moderate (g' = 0.50). A subgroup analysis revealed that treatment effectiveness did not differ between curricular and non-curricular treatment approaches. Further subgroup analyses demonstrated that effect sizes were influenced by the setting, the instructor, intensity, and duration of treatment. Long-term effects could not be incorporated in the meta-analysis due to lack of data. There is, however, empirical evidence for long-term effects of non-curricular treatment approaches.