Chess & Math Learning.pdf

Learning chess in school in 3rd grade increases math achievement by a third of a standard deviation in Italy.
Significant interactions were found for two crucial variables: residing in the south and being foreign-born, with southern students showing an effect size almost twice as large as their northern colleagues.
Foreign-born students also scored better than native-born students.
The intervention consisted of approximately 30 hours of classroom instruction provided by certified instructors.
The study was conducted in over 30 schools located in 14 regions during the 2010/11 school year, with a budget of less than €4,000 for evaluation.

Methodology:

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted, with each school participating with at least two 3rd-grade classes, one of which was randomly selected to be delayed to 4th grade.
A math pre-test and post-test were administered to all students in the experimental and control classes.
Simple t-tests were performed, and estimates were adjusted with multiple regression and corrected for clustering, with effect sizes computed.

Limitations:

The study is weak on external validity due to the volunteer and network-related nature of participation in the program.
Important development would be to randomly select schools within which to randomly assign classes, providing incentives for school participation and eventually correcting for non-compliance.

Background:

The existing evidence on the effect of chess on math learning is inconclusive.
Some studies claim that chess promotes academic performance through developing visual memory, attention span, spatial reasoning skills, capacity to predict and anticipate consequences, critical thinking, self-confidence, self-respect, and problem-solving skills.
* Others argue that problem-solving is subject-specific and that using chess to improve math problem-solving would be a failure.