Math Anxiety and the "Math Gap": How Attitudes toward Mathematics Disadvantages Students as Early as Preschool.

TLDR: For example, Maloney et al. as mentioned in this paper found that Math anxiety in primary grade children was not only present as early as 2nd grade, but that it had a marked detrimental effect on the subjects achievement in mathematics.

Abstract: Introduction Achievement in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines is receiving a great deal of attention in research, politics and education recently (Latterell, 2005; NAEYC, 2004; National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, 2006; Sarama & Clements, 2004). There is a general consensus on the importance of the STEM disciplines to a person's future employment possibilities, higher education potential and for improving our national economy. According to the National Research Councils report Adding It Up (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001): ... Today's students ... will face new demands for mathematical proficiency that school mathematics should attempt to anticipate. Moreover, mathematics is a realm no longer restricted to a select few. All young Americans must learn to think mathematically, and they must think mathematically to learn (p.1). Other emerging research is demonstrating that early experiences and education both at home and at school greatly impact on later achievement (Duncan, Ludwig, & Magnuson, 2007; Hoekstra, Brekelmans, Beijaard, & Korthagen, 2009). The experiences of children even before they enter Kindergarten can effect their achievement in mathematics (Roberts, Vukovic, & Society for Research on, Educational Effectiveness, 2011). Head Start programs were designed to give children from lower socioeconomic status families a more stimulating early childhood environment, which they were likely not receiving in the home environment (Ludwig & Phillips, 2007). The general aim was provide stimulating preschool experiences to allow for children from ages 3-5 to enter Kindergarten on a more equal footing to their more economically advantaged peers (Ludwig & Phillips, 2007). However, with regards to mathematics achievement, attitudes towards mathematics can have a huge impact on their ability to offer stimulating environments that can help children to succeed in mathematics (Sloan, 2010). In this current study, 31 head start teachers were surveyed about their attitudes toward mathematics and their classroom practices to see how their attitude toward mathematics effected their decisions to teach mathematics to their students. Beginnings of Math Anxiety Math anxiety begins early and it caused by a number of intertwining influences (Lyons & Beilock, 2012a; Mattarella-Micke, Mateo, Kozak, Foster, & Beilock, 2011). Wu, Barth, Amin, Malcame, & Menon (2012) demonstrated that math anxiety in primary grade children was not only present as early as 2nd grade, but that it had a marked detrimental effect on the subjects achievement in mathematics. Additionally, the study showed that math anxiety has a more pronounced effect on tasks that require complex verbal reasoning and problem solving rather than numerical operations that require basic fact retrieval. Krinzinger, Kaufmann, & Willmes (2009) also found a close relationship between math anxiety and math ability in 1st through 3rd graders and postulated that this is the time when Math anxiety seems to first occur. Maloney & Beilock(2012) put the problem very clearly when they stated: Not only is math anxiety present at the beginning of formal schooling, which is much younger than was previously assumed, but its development is also probably tied to both social factors (e.g. a teacher's anxiety about her own math ability) and a student's own basic numerical and spatial competencies --where deficiencies may predispose students to pick up on negative environmental cues about math. If these Head Start teachers are, as the parents seem to be, math anxious and less comfortable with mathematics, this could effect their students' achievement. It can also affect teachers' classroom planning and amount of mathematics content that they include in their curriculum (Maloney & Beilock 2012). …