Investigating the Relationship between Elementary Teacher Mathematics Anxiety, Mathematics Instructional Practices, and Student Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

Many elementary teachers have been found to have high levels of Many elementary teachers have been found to have high levels of mathematics anxiety but the impact on student achievement was unknown. Elementary teachers ( N = 692) completed the modified Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale-Revised (Hopko, 2003) along with a questionnaire probing anxiety about teaching mathematics and current mathematics instructional practices. Student mathematics achievement data were collected for the classrooms taught by the teachers. A positive relationship was found between anxiety about mathematics and anxiety about teaching mathematics. Increased student mathematics achievement was related to lower levels of anxiety about teaching mathematics, but was not related to general anxiety about mathematics. Anxiety about mathematics was positively related to more National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards-based instructional practices.