Mathematics anxiety of elementary teachers and its effect on student mathematics achievement

This study investigated the mathematics anxiety of elementary teachers and its relationship with student mathematics achievement. A sample of 850 first- through sixth-grade teachers completed the Elementary Teacher Mathematics Anxiety and Teaching Practices survey, which assessed their level of anxiety about mathematics, anxiety about teaching mathematics, mathematics instructional practices, and amount of additional pedagogical training. Class average student mathematics achievement test data were also collected for the teachers in the study.;The purpose was to investigate the relationships among the variables and lay the groundwork for future investigations; hence, a correlational survey design was used. A positive relationship was found between anxiety about mathematics and anxiety about teaching mathematics. More detailed investigation showed that this relationship was primarily due to a strong relationship at the low to middle levels of anxiety about mathematics; however, the relationship did not hold at higher levels of anxiety about mathematics. No relationship was found between either anxiety measure and student mathematics achievement. Anxiety about mathematics was slightly positively related to more reform-oriented instructional practices and slightly negatively related to additional mathematics pedagogical training.;Additional relationships were found between other variables. There was a negative relationship between grade level taught and reform practices. This indicates that teachers of upper elementary grades use fewer reform-oriented instructional practices. A negative relationship was also found between school poverty level and student mathematics achievement, indicating that schools from higher poverty communities had lower student mathematics achievement.;An investigation of teachers who were more than one standard deviation from the mean of anxiety about mathematics and anxiety about teaching mathematics was also undertaken. Teachers who had experienced anxiety about mathematics but currently had low anxiety about teaching mathematics had higher levels of reform practices, higher student mathematics achievement, and taught in lower grades.