Elementary school teachers' math anxiety and students' math learning: A large-scale replication.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• A strong math foundation is crucial for academic success.
• Teacher math attitudes, including math anxiety, can influence student learning.
• Previous research indicated a link between teacher math anxiety and girls' math achievement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate and extend previous findings on the relationship between teacher math anxiety and student math achievement.
• To investigate this relationship in a larger and more diverse sample of first-grade students.
• To determine if the effect of teacher math anxiety on student achievement differs between genders.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale replication study using a sample of 551 first-grade students.
• Statistical analysis to assess the relationship between teachers' math anxiety and students' math achievement.
• Control for teachers' math ability and students' initial math knowledge.

Main Results:

• A significant negative relationship was found between teachers' math anxiety and students' math achievement for both boys and girls.
• This finding held true even after controlling for teacher math ability and students' prior math knowledge.
• The results replicated and extended previous research with a larger sample size.

Conclusions:

• Teacher math anxiety is a significant factor that can negatively impact children's math learning.
• This anxiety can potentially derail students' mathematical development during early elementary school.
• Interventions aimed at reducing math anxiety in teachers may be beneficial for improving student outcomes.