You may be interested in a book entitled:
Developing Math Talent: A Guide for...earners in Math by Susan Assouline Ph.D. I don't have the book in front of me now, since I read it as a library book, but there was a good discussion in there about math fluency vs. mastery of abstract concepts. Gifted kids are known for excelling in mastering the concepts while lagging in recall of math facts. It even goes so far to say that while most kids improve their recall of math facts (or even their accuracy of simple calculations) with increased repetition, kids that are gifted in math actually decrease their accuracy with repetition. She calls it the "drill and kill" method. The more repetition they are asked to do, the more sloppy mistakes they make.
My son, DS11, is also one of those that thrives on advance concepts, but frequently makes simple mistakes with calculations. We fought for a subject acceleration in math for 3 years, and were never given it. DS11 recently scored in the 99.9% on brief math on the Woodcock-Johnson, but only 49% on math fluency.
Another point that may be of interest: How many questions were on the end of the year assessment? I.e. What percentage did he miss? It is not required for a child to earn a 100% on an end of year test to show mastery. Does anyone know if the commonly accepted percentage is about 80%-85% to show mastery?
Hope this helps some!
