Evaluation of the children's methematics abilities from final elementary cycles of public and private schools in São José do Rio Preto SP, Brazil

THESES

Evaluation of the children's methematics abilities from final elementary cycles of public and private schools in São José do Rio Preto SP, Brazil (Abstract)^*. Thesis. São José do Rio Preto, 2003.

José Alexandre Bastos^**

Man has been developing the ability of counting since pre-historic times. Several peoples contributed to the development of the process of calculating, among them, the hindus with the invention of the decimal system. Some difficulties in learning mathematics are very frequent. Although the incidence of developmental dyscalculia is similar to dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD) 3% to 6%, neurologists have been neglecting its study.

This study aimed at proposing a protocol to evaluate the children's mathematics abilities as well as to correlate them with their socioeconomic and cultural status. All of them were from the 2^nd final terms of elementary school cycles of private (A) and public /local schools(B, C, D and E). A modified protocol of Boller and Grafman was used to test 2773 children's mathematics abilities, and the results were correlated with age, sex, school level, and to their parents' socioeconomic status (profession/educational level).

Children of 10 to 11 years old, both sexes, showed the best results. The girls were better than the boys p= < 0.05. The schools A and B had similar results; however, it was worse in public schools according to the neighborhood's quality of life, and a growing worse was observed in relation to schools of the outskirts p=<0.05. Children's abilities were influenced by their parents' education p= < 0.05. The children's misunderstanding of their parents' educational level showed a high negative influence on them.

This protocol was useful to evaluate large population, easy to be applied, and above all, we have got aware of the necessity of some school approaches specially on children considered at risk; that is, children from schools of poor neighborhood who do not know even their parents' educational level. Cognitive abilities should be evaluated since nursery and kindergarten schools. In private schools, the protocol revealed that although the children had no negative influence, they also presented bad math results. These difficulties can be overcome after some interdisciplinary approaches for diagnosis and treatment provided by effective programs.

Key words: mathematics abilities, elementary cycles; public and private schools.

*

Avaliação das habilidades em matemática nas crianças no final do 2º ciclo do Ensino Fundamental em escolas da rede pública e privada de São José do Rio Preto (Resumo). Tese de Doutorado, Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto- FAMERP (Área: Medicina Interna). Orientador: Waldir Antonio Tognola.

**

Address: Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima 5622 - 15093-000 São José do Rio Preto SP, Brasil.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  19 Sept 2003
• Date of issue
  Sept 2003