The undeniable relationship between reading comprehension and mathematics performance

Abstract

In a world driven by literacy, there is still unfortunately a stigma about teachers who are not English, language arts or reading teachers, undertaking teaching of reading skills and/or strategies in their courses. The maths world still does not accept reading as a major component; however, the consequences are too noticeable to ignore. It is time for the education system to accept the importance of implementing reading skills in mathematics classes to curtail the issues that arise with students doing poorly in maths because it is much more than the manipulation of numbers. Fuchs et al. (2015) clarified "[w]ord-problem (WP) solving differs from other forms of mathematics competence because it requires students to decipher text describing a problem situation and derive the number sentence representing the situation" (p. 204). Content-area teachers are becoming aware of the relationship between these two subjects and are adding reading into the mathematics curriculum because of the necessity. Bernadowski (2016) stated "[i]n an era of accountability and standards-based instruction, it is no secret that content area teachers are finding themselves in the throes of literacy instruction" (p. 3). The purpose of this literature review is to identify how reading comprehension contributes to the mathematics performance of elementary and middle school students.