Diagnostic Assessment for Foundational Mathematics Among Class II Students

Abstract

Foundational mathematics provides the basis for children’s subsequent learning and includes competencies related to number, mathematical operations, patterns, shapes, spatial understanding, and the application of mathematical ideas. The present study examined the foundational mathematics performance of Class II students through an item-level diagnostic assessment. The analysis was based on a learner-level dataset comprising 448 Class II students from seven private schools in Rewari district, Haryana, India. The mathematics component included 96 scored items distributed across four domains: Shapes, Number, Mathematical Operations, and Pattern. Item-level correct responses and learner-level scores were analysed using descriptive statistics. The overall mean mathematics score was 48.18, with a standard deviation of 15.28. Domain-level analysis showed substantial differences in performance. Pattern was the strongest domain, followed by Number, Mathematical Operations, and Shapes. At the item level, performance ranged from 96% to only 6%. Within Mathematical Operations, performance varied markedly across items. Multiplication also demonstrated substantial variation. These findings indicate that foundational mathematics achievement is not uniform across competencies and that aggregate scores alone may conceal important learning gaps. The study demonstrates the value of item-level diagnostic assessment for identifying specific areas requiring instructional attention and for supporting competency-oriented mathematics teaching at the foundational stage.