Mathematics Anxiety and Math Instructional Time in First-Year Elementary School Teachers

Math anxiety is a pervasive problem that negatively impacts both children and adults. Teachers with math anxiety can unintentionally pass this anxiety on to their students; in addition, past studies have shown that these teachers may also end up spending less time engaged in math instruction. Both of these results can negatively impact their students for years to come. The present study examines the impact of a brief expressive writing intervention on three first-year elementary school teachers with math anxiety. Expressive writing interventions have been shown to have positive impacts on variables ranging from test anxiety to math performance. This multiple-baseline, multiple-probe, single-case research design examined the impacts of three 10-min expressive writing interventions on two variables: levels of math anxiety (as measured by the FS-ANX subscale of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Anxiety Scale) and the number of minutes engaged in math instruction. Results for both variables were mixed. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.