Dataset: Baseline Working Memory as a Moderator of Working Memory Training and Word Problem Intervention Students on Posttest Working Memory and Posttest Math for Students with Math Difficulty [v.1]

This file contains data associated with "Children’s Baseline Working Memory Moderates the Effects of Working Memory Training,” a paper submitted for publication by Lynn Fuchs, Sonya Sterba, Marcia Barnes, and Douglas Fuchs of Vanderbilt University. The primary purpose of this analysis was to investigate whether children’s baseline working memory (B_WM) moderates effects of WM training for improving WM. Children (n = 240; mean age = 7.51 years [SD = 0.33]) with low to average B_WM and with math difficulty were randomized to 4 conditions: a control group, general WM training with contiguous math practice but no math training, word-problem (WP) intervention without WM training, and WP intervention with math-specific WM training. WM, word-problem solving (WPS), and arithmetic were assessed before and after intervention. As previously reported (Fuchs et al., 2022), 2 training conditions increased WM and both math outcomes over the control group: the general WM training with contiguous math practice condition and the WP intervention without WM training condition. In the present analysis, multilevel modeling indicated that B_WM moderated effects of each of these 2 conditions’ effects on the posttest WM latent factor. Follow-up tests indicated that effects of general WM training were significant on WM for students with B_WM scores at or below the sample’s 82nd percentile (~49th percentile of a normal distribution); effects of WP intervention were significant on WM for students with B_WM scores at or below the sample’s 73rd percentile (~44th percentile of a normal distribution). By contrast, secondary analysis revealed that B_WM was not a significant moderator of training effects on math outcomes. Implications for future research on WM training and for personalizing assignment of math interventions are discussed.
This dataset contains data on a set of students with mathematics difficulties (i.e., pretest WPS < 30th percentile; standard scores above 80 on at least one of the 2 subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale; and pretest WM < 60th percentile). Data for this project were collected in person at schools, with each student containing two time points worth of data in the current sample. Timepoint 1 was September-October and timepoint 2 was April in academic years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019.
This dataset contains information on nesting variables and performance scores related to Cognitive Processes, Executive Function, Math, Number Problems, Shema, Word Problems, Working Memory Arithmetic, and Calculation from the following measures: Story Problems (Jordan & Hanich, 2000), Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C; Pickering & Gathercole, 2001)–Listening Recall and Counting Recall, Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA)-Odd-One Out, Arithmetic (Addition 0-12, Addition 5-18, Subtraction 0-12, Subtraction 5-18), and Second-Grade Word Problems.