ERIC Number: EJ1101515
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jun
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1033-2170
EISSN: N/A
Using the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales with Lower-Primary Teachers
Ren, Lixin; Green, Jennifer L.; Smith, Wendy M.
Mathematics Education Research Journal, v28 n2 p303-326 Jun 2016
The Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS) are among the most popular instruments used in studies of attitudes toward mathematics. However, the FSMAS has been mainly used among student populations and rarely used with teachers. In the present study, three scales from the FSMAS--"Confidence," "Effectance Motivation," and "Anxiety"--were revised and used with lower-primary (kindergarten to third grade) teachers. This study includes three parts: (1) a pilot study to ensure the modifications made to the FSMAS were appropriate to use with teachers, (2) confirmatory factor analyses to assess the factor structure of the revised FSMAS with 225 lower-primary teachers, and (3) measurement invariance analyses using data from a similar sample of 171 lower-primary teachers to examine whether the revised FSMAS measures each construct in the same way as in the previous sample. The final three-factor model, after removing three problematic items, achieves acceptable model fit, with each construct meeting all conditions for strict measurement invariance. Additionally, repeated measures analyses were performed on data collected from 39 in-service lower-primary teachers who participated in an elementary mathematics specialist program to examine the use of the revised FSMAS in program evaluation. Overall results suggest that researchers and program evaluators may use the revised FSMAS to reliably measure lower-primary teachers' mathematical attitudes, and it can be a valuable tool for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development programs.
Descriptors: Attitude Measures, Mathematics, Student Attitudes, Elementary School Mathematics, Elementary School Teachers, Factor Analysis, Data Collection, Program Evaluation, Professional Development, Program Effectiveness, Institutional Characteristics, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Pilot Projects, Factor Structure, Mathematics Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Fennema Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A