Effects of picture-book and narrative-based early mathematics instruction on young children's mathematical outcomes: Systematic review and three-level meta-analysis protocol
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Study Protocol
Abstract: Picture-book reading is among the most widely practised activities in preschool classrooms and homes, and using it to teach early mathematics is an attractive proposition: the activity is already routine, its marginal cost is low, and it combines language and mathematics in a single interaction. This idea has been tested empirically for three decades, but reported effects vary dramatically. A large field trial using ordinary trade picture books with implicit mathematical content produced an effect of d = .13, while one-to-one interventions using purpose-written mathematical stories report effects above 0.75, and the most methodologically rigorous study in the field — a registered report — found no effect of its single-component conditions. Two systematic reviews and one scoping review have described this literature, but none of them pooled effect sizes, so the size of the effect, the conditions under which it changes, and the presence of publication bias all remain unknown. This document is the protocol for a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis of narrative-based early mathematics instruction in children aged 36–84 months, covering printed picture books, digital stories and oral storytelling as levels of a delivery-medium moderator rather than as inclusion criteria. Prespecified moderators include the explicitness of mathematical content and its integration into the narrative, reading style, added manipulative activity, implementer, dosage, control type and outcome–content overlap. The protocol follows PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-P 2015. The protocol text is in Turkish. No meta-analysis of this question currently exists. Surum v2 - 21 Eylul 2026. Uc degisiklik: (1) pilot tur basit rastgele yerinekatmanli (zenginlestirilmis) ornekleme ile cekilir - 30 zengin + 20 seyrek,tohum 20260921, hakemler katmana kordur; (2) baslik/oz turunda "belirsiz"karari uyum hesabinda ve is akisinda "dahil" ile birlesir; (3) kor acilisanahtari pilot tamamlanana kadar calisma deposunda tutulmaz, yerine SHA-256ozeti kayda gecirilir. Uyum esigi (ham Cohen kappa >= .80), pilot boyutu (50),dahil etme olcutleri, arama dizeleri ve analiz plani DEGISMEMISTIR.Gerekce ve sayilar ZENODO-SURUM-NOTU-v2.docx dosyasindadir.
Authors: Karagül, Sedat, Keleş, Oğuz
Language: Turkish
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204908428