According to previous findings, math anxiety already occurs at early school age and is negatively correlated with math achievement. So far, however, little is known about the nature of math anxiety in young children. To fill this gap, we present the results of a longitudinal study on the math anxiety of children that were followed in the first…

Spatial thinking predicts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics achievement, yet is often absent from educational "policy." We provide benchmarks of teachers' usage and perceptions of spatial activities "in practice" in the reception classroom (first year of primary school). In this questionnaire study of…

This research examined how parents' math anxiety is associated with their controlling and autonomy-supportive involvement in children's math learning; the contribution of such involvement to children's math achievement was also evaluated. Parents (N = 562; 62% White, 21% Black; 65% with at least a bachelor's degree) of young elementary school…

Math achievement is an important predictor of progression to later science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers. However, attitudinal factors also play a role, and interventions attempting to improve math attitudes may be important for increasing the number of STEM-aspiring students. To design effective interventions, it…

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to discover the influence of teacher-student relationships on teachers' math self-efficacy and math anxiety in first through third-grade students. This research was significant since the results inform and guide educational training, evaluations, and classroom management. This study was…

A solid foundation in math is important for children's long-term academic success. Many factors influence children's math learning--including the math content students are taught in school, the quality of their instruction, and the math attitudes of students' teachers. Using a large and diverse sample of first-grade students (n = 551), we…

Background: Students' self-concept of ability is an important predictor of their achievement emotions. However, little is known about how learning environments affect these interrelations. Aims: Referring to Pekrun's control-value theory, this study investigated whether teacher-reported teaching quality at the classroom level would moderate the…

Whereas some evidence exists that math anxiety may interfere with math performance from the very beginning of primary school, no study to date has attempted to investigate whether math anxiety may also interfere with early math learning (i.e., the encoding of new math knowledge) and not only with recalling already mastered contents in test…

Research Findings: Two hundred and sixty-seven Chilean children from grades 1-3, their fathers and their mothers completed measures of implicit and explicit math-related beliefs (math-gender stereotypes, math self-concepts) and feelings (math anxiety), as well as tests of mathematical achievement. Children, fathers, and mothers exhibited…