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This study explores how kindergarten students from a multilingual sample (n = 131) representing 23 different languages differ in response to intervention, based on their skill in mathematics and domain general cognitive skills. Analyses for this study indicate significant correlations between initial math skill, phonological memory, working memory, and language proficiency. There was no statistically significant relationship demonstrated between gains in mathematics and phonological memory, working memory, and language proficiency. No moderation effect was found between domain general skills and response to math intervention. Implications of this work will inform development and delivery of math interventions for multilingual students in kindergarten.

This study used a randomized controlled trial design to investigate the ROOTS curriculum, a 50-lesson kindergarten mathematics intervention. Ten ROOTS-eligible students per classroom ( n = 60) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a ROOTS five-student group, a ROOTS two-student group, and a no-treatment control group. Two primary research questions were investigated as part of this study: What was the overall impact of the treatment (the ROOTS intervention) as compared with the control (business as usual)? Was there a differential impact on student outcomes between the two treatment conditions (two- vs. five-student group)? Initial analyses for the first research question indicated a significant impact on three outcomes and positive but nonsignificant impacts on three additional measures. Results for the second research question, comparing the two- and five-student groups, indicated negligible and nonsignificant differences. Implications for practice are discussed.