Moving Up! Or Down? Mathematics Anxiety in the Transition From Elementary School to Junior High

• In Event: 32.025 - Antecedents and Consequences of Students' Math Anxiety

Abstract

Mathematics anxiety has a detrimental effect on student performance and motivation (Maloney & Beilock, 2012). Research has shown how mathematics anxiety negatively impacts cognitive processing, performance expectations, and future choices (Ashcraft & Moore, 2009; Meece, Wigfield, & Eccles, 1990). However, research has not examined patterns in students’ mathematics anxiety levels over time. The current study addresses this gap by exploring group-based trajectories in mathematics anxiety during the transition to junior high school. Five trajectories are described: consistently low anxiety, consistently high anxiety, steady decline, summer decrease, and summer increase. Predictors of trajectory membership, including student demographics and motivational variables like self-efficacy, are explored. Implications for research on students’ mathematics anxiety over time and especially during transition are discussed.

Authors

• Holly L. Klee, George Mason University

• Angela D. Miller, George Mason University