Arthur Baroody

Arthur Baroody is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a position he has held since August 1986. He earned his Ph.D. in educational and developmental psychology from Cornell University in 1979. Before joining the University of Illinois, Baroody served as a Research Associate at the University of Rochester's Center for the Study of Psychological Development from February 1980 to August 1986. Throughout his career, he has focused on advancing understanding of mathematical thinking and learning in young children within the field of education.

Baroody's research specializations include early childhood mathematics education, mathematical cognition, cognitive development, number sense, and the acquisition of arithmetic concepts and skills. His work explores the development of young children's early number and operation sense, counting strategies, cardinality principles, subitizing, and adaptive expertise in basic addition and subtraction. He has examined learning trajectories for early numeracy, the efficacy of hypothetical learning progressions, and instructional approaches to foster mathematical reasoning. Key publications encompass books such as Children's Mathematical Thinking: A Developmental Framework for Preschool, Kindergarten, and Primary School Teachers (1987), The Development of Arithmetic Concepts and Skills: Constructive Adaptive Expertise (2003, edited with Ann Dowker), and Fostering Children's Mathematical Power: An Investigative Approach to K-8 Mathematics Instruction (2004, with Julie M. Wilkins and Ronald T. Coslick). Notable articles include "The development of young children's early number and operation sense and its implications for early childhood education," "Does use of a hypothetical learning progression promote learning of the cardinal-count concept?" (2024), "The development and assessment of early cardinal-number concepts" (2023), and "Lessons Learned from 10 Experiments That Tested the Efficacy and Assumptions of Hypothetical Learning Trajectories" (2022). Baroody has been principal investigator on grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, such as "Fostering Fluency with Basic Addition and Subtraction" (2008), the National Science Foundation (e.g., #1621470), and the Spencer Foundation. His contributions have shaped early childhood mathematics instruction and assessment practices, evidenced by extensive scholarly impact including over 16,000 citations on Google Scholar.

Professional Email: baroody@illinois.edu