Math skills are and will remain in high demand in the job market, so it’s critical that students experience rich math learning experiences, in school and beyond, that build their confidence as math learners. In a recent Education Week article, AERDF president and CEO, Auditi Chakravarty asks us to consider, “What kind of exposure do kids get at a really young age to numbers and numeracy to build that same kind of literacy [as reading readiness]?” Providing all young people with opportunities to build mathematical proficiency will support their academic achievement and create pathways to a wide variety of careers.
As such, it’s of great concern when recent NAEP scores indicate that nearly 40% of 8th graders and almost 25% of 4th graders in the U.S. are below basic proficiency in math. One reason this may be the case is math anxiety. What’s described as a learned emotional response to math-related activities, math anxiety is said to affect 20-30% of students. Math anxiety can look like feeling blank, sweating palms, and a racing heartbeat when faced with math problems.
Co-executive director of EF+Math, a program of AERDF, Michelle Tiu, recommends mastering basic math facts and focusing on conceptual understanding over math drills and timed tasks to promote math fluency. “Not possessing fluency adds a lot of cognitive load to each step of a mathematical process. If students’ cognitive load is not taken up with thinking about basic fluency facts, it frees them up to be able to focus on higher-order thinking and conceptual understanding.”
Read the article to learn more about evidence-based strategies to mitigate math anxiety and improve student learning.
