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Past research indicates that teacher math anxiety is related to student outcomes and can be decreased through intervention. However, there is little research on this topic, partially due to a lack of math anxiety measures validated for use with practicing teachers. In this study of 399 elementary school teachers, we report on the construct validation of the Math Anxiety Scale for Teachers. Factor analyses support a distinction between components of general math anxiety and anxiety about teaching math. Math anxiety scores correlate with other teacher characteristics in expected ways: higher math anxiety is associated with lower mathematical knowledge for teaching, more traditional beliefs about math teaching and learning, being a lower elementary school teacher, and a lack of math-specific teaching credentials. The 15-item Math Anxiety Scale for Teachers can be administered efficiently in large-scale studies and may support advances in research exploring relations among practicing teachers' math anxiety, instruction, and student learning.

Women are underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and in some non-STEM majors (e.g., philosophy). Combining newly gathered data on students' perceptions of college major traits with data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we find that perceived gender bias against women emerges as the dominant predictor of the gender balance in college majors. The perception of the major being math or science oriented is less important. We replicate these findings using a separate sample to measure college major traits. Results suggest the need to incorporate major-level traits in research on gender gaps in college major choices and the need to recognize the impact of perceptions of potential gender discrimination on college major choices.

In this study, we explore student achievement in a semester-long flipped Calculus II course, combining various predictor measures related to student attitudes (math anxiety, math confidence, math interest, math importance) and cognitive skills (spatial skills, approximate number system), as well as student engagement with the online system (discussion forum interaction, time to submission of workshop assignments, quiz attempts), in predicting final grades. Data from 85 students enrolled in a flipped Calculus II course was used in dominance analysis to determine which predictors emerged as the most important for predicting final grades. Results indicated that feelings of math importance, approximate number system (ANS) ability, total amount of discussion forum posting, and time grading peer workshop submissions was the best combination of predictors of final grade, accounting for 17% of variance in a student's final grade. The point of this work was to determine which predictors are the most important in predicting student grade, with the end goal of building a recommendation system that could be implemented to help students in this traditionally difficult class. The methods used here could be used for any class.

Despite progress toward gender equity, troubling disparities in mathematical problem-solving performance and related outcomes persist. To investigate why, we build on recurrent findings in previous studies to introduce a new construct, "bold problem solving," which involves approaching mathematics problems in inventive ways. We introduce a self-report survey of bold problem-solving orientation and find that it mediates gender differences in problem-solving performance for both high-achieving middle school students (n = 79) and a more diverse sample of high school students (n = 222). Confidence mediates the relation between gender and bold problem-solving orientation, with mixed results for mental rotation skills and teacher-pleasing tendencies as mediators. Overall, the new bold problem-solving construct appears promising for advancing our understanding of gender differences in mathematics.

Children's early mathematics skills develop in a cumulative fashion; foundational skills form a basis for the acquisition of later skills. However, non-mathematical factors such as working memory and language skills have also been linked to mathematical development at a broad level. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted to evaluate the specific relations of these two non-mathematical factors to individual aspects of early mathematics. Thus, the focus of this study was to determine whether working memory and language were related to only individual aspects of early mathematics or related to many components of early mathematics skills. A total of 199 4- to 6-year-old preschool and kindergarten children were assessed on a battery of early mathematics tasks as well as measures of working memory and language. Results indicated that working memory has a specific relation to only a few--but critically important--early mathematics skills and language has a broad relation to nearly all early mathematics skills. [This article was published in "Journal of Experimental Child Psychology," v122 p104-121 Jun 2014.]

Previous research has demonstrated a link between spatial and math skills. However, little research has examined this relation longitudinally. The present study examines the development of and reciprocal relations between spatial and math skills in elementary school students. We administered two spatial tasks and a math task to 312 first- through third-grade students who were tested in the spring for three consecutive school years. Linear growth models showed increases for each skill across the three school years. A random intercepts cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that controlling for task-specific (i.e., autoregressive) growth, there was a relation between spatial visualization/mental rotation at Year 1 and math performance at Year 2. In addition, math scores in Year 2 predicted Year 3 spatial visualization/mental rotation skills as well as Year 3 spatial perception skills. Further, there were significant differences in task performance depending on grade in school, and there were gender differences in spatial perception and sometimes math performance. Thus, we find some evidence for reciprocal relations between spatial and math skills over development, but our results suggest that the particular type of spatial skill measured is important to consider in studying these relations.

Based on research identifying relations between math and music, we aimed to identify the group of cognitive and affective factors related to math and music theory that best explained undergraduate music theory achievement. Using dominance analysis, we predicted the music theory course grades of 230 undergraduate music majors. Potential predictors were narrowed from measures of knowledge, aptitude, experience, confidence, and anxiety in both music theory and math as well as spatial skills and reading test scores. Results suggested that ACT math scores and music theory confidence were important predictors for Music Theories I and II grades. Music Theory I was also predicted by aptitude-based music theory skills, and Music Theory II was also predicted by math course experience. These findings provide evidence for a relation between math and music theory and support the use of several readily available measures for college-level music instructors to identify students who may struggle in music theory.

Our target article (Robinson-Cimpian, Lubienski, Ganley, & Copur-Gencturk, 2014) used nationally representative data to examine the development of gender gaps in math achievement. We found that when boys and girls demonstrate equivalent math test performance and are perceived by their teachers to be equally well behaved and engaged with the material, teachers tend to rate girls as "less" proficient in math than boys (Study 1). Moreover, this underrating of girls' proficiency appeared to contribute substantially to a widening gender gap in early elementary school (Study 2). In this response, we use the thoughtful comments of Card (2014) and Penner (2014) as a springboard for discussing the methodologies and assumptions of some of the most recent research using nationally representative data to explore gender inequities. In the process, we shed light on how recent works using the same data reach different conclusions. We also make recommendations regarding the use of such data for understanding the development of the gender gap and for designing effective interventions.

A recent wave of research suggests that teachers overrate the performance of girls relative to boys and hold more positive attitudes toward girls' mathematics abilities. However, these prior estimates of teachers' supposed female bias are potentially misleading because these estimates (and teachers themselves) confound achievement with teachers' perceptions of behavior and effort. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K), Study 1 demonstrates that teachers actually rate boys' mathematics proficiency higher than that of girls when conditioning on both teachers' ratings of behavior and approaches to learning as well as past and current test scores. In other words, on average girls are only perceived to be as mathematically competent as similarly achieving boys when the girls are also seen as working harder, behaving better, and being more eager to learn. Study 2 uses mediation analysis with an instrumental-variables approach, as well as a matching strategy, to explore the extent to which this conditional underrating of girls may explain the widening gender gap in mathematics in early elementary school. We find robust evidence suggesting that underrating girls' mathematics proficiency accounts for a substantial portion of the development of the mathematics achievement gap between similarly performing and behaving boys and girls in the early grades.

This research examined a potential mechanism underlying gender differences in math performance by testing a mediation model in which women's higher anxiety taxes their working memory resources, leading to underperformance on a mathematics test. Participants for the 2 studies were college students (N = 87, N = 118) who completed an anxiety measure, 2 working memory tasks (verbal and visuospatial), and a challenging math test including both geometry and algebra items. Findings showed a significant gender difference in math performance, anxiety, and visuospatial working memory. Further, there was a mediating chain from gender to the worry component of anxiety to visuospatial working memory to math performance. The results suggest that women's heightened worry may have utilized their visuospatial working memory resources, and the resulting gender differences in working memory were associated with gender differences on a math test. The present research contributes to our understanding of affective and cognitive factors underlying gender differences in mathematics. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions aimed at reducing anxiety and improving working memory skills.

Prior research has demonstrated a male advantage in spatial skills and science achievement. The present research integrated these findings by testing the potential role of spatial skills in gender differences in the science performance of eighth-grade students (13-15 years old). In "Study 1" (N = 113), the findings showed that mental rotation ability mediated gender differences in physical science and technology/engineering test scores. In "Study 2" (N = 73,245), science performance was examined in a state population of eighth-grade students. As in "Study 1", the results revealed larger gender differences on items that showed higher correlations with mental rotation. These findings underscore the importance of considering spatial training interventions aimed at reducing gender differences in the science performance of school-aged children.

Stereotype threat has been proposed as 1 potential explanation for the gender difference in standardized mathematics test performance among high-performing students. At present, it is not entirely clear how susceptibility to stereotype threat develops, as empirical evidence for stereotype threat effects across the school years is inconsistent. In a series of 3 studies, with a total sample of 931 students, we investigated stereotype threat effects during childhood and adolescence. Three activation methods were used, ranging from implicit to explicit. Across studies, we found no evidence that the mathematics performance of school-age girls was impacted by stereotype threat. In 2 of the studies, there were gender differences on the mathematics assessment regardless of whether stereotype threat was activated. Potential reasons for these findings are discussed, including the possibility that stereotype threat effects only occur in very specific circumstances or that they are in fact occurring all the time. We also address the possibility that the literature regarding stereotype threat in children is subject to publication bias.

Amid debates about the continued salience of gender in mathematics, this report summarizes an IES-funded investigation of gender-related patterns in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Girls' and boys' mathematics achievement, confidence, and interest were examined, along with experiences at home and school. Teacher-reported instructional practices shed little light on gender gaps in mathematics performance; however, teachers' perceptions of girls and boys could play a role.

Instructors ("N"?=?204) of elementary mathematics methods courses completed a survey assessing the extent to which they value cognitive research and incorporate it into their courses. Instructors' responses indicated that they view cognitive research to be fairly important for mathematics education, particularly studies of domain-specific topics, and that they emphasize topics prominent in psychology studies of mathematical thinking in their courses. However, instructors reported seldom accessing this research through primary or secondary sources. A mediation analysis indicated that mathematics methods instructors' perception of the importance of the research predicts their incorporation of it in their courses, and that this relation is partially mediated by their accessing of it. Implications for psychologists who have an interest in education and recommendations for facilitating the use of cognitive research in teacher preparation are discussed. (Contains 1 note, 1 figure, and 6 tables.)

This study explores changes in students' strategies as they solve different types of volume problems. Fifth graders were presented with pictures showing 3D objects and a unit cube; they determined how many cubes made up the object and explained their responses. We examined whether children transferred strategies across problem types, varying in terms of (a) availability of grids that divided objects into individual unit cubes, (b) order of items, (c) object shape, and (d) availability of the unit cube. Children's strategy choices varied systematically with object and task characteristics. They were more likely to use conceptually appropriate strategies when presented with grids. With non-gridded objects, they were more likely to treat a 3D object as a collection of 2D faces. Presenting gridded items first increased the use of conceptually appropriate strategies on the non-gridded items. We discuss findings in the context of Siegler's theory of strategy choice and address educational implications. (Contains 3 figures and 12 tables.)

The present study addressed girls' (N=127) early numerical and spatial reasoning skills, within the context of a critical environment in which these cognitive skills develop, namely their homes. Specifically, proximal links between distal family socioeconomic conditions and first-grade girls' arithmetic and spatial skills were examined (mean age=6.72 years; SD=0.34). The proximal roles of two factors were considered: the general learning characteristics of girls' homes, and the kinds of math and spatial learning activities in which girls participated. General quality of the home learning environment and specific math activities mediated the relation between family socioeconomics and girls' arithmetic skills. In contrast, socioeconomics and home learning experiences were related to girls' spatial skills indirectly only through their verbal skills; spatial activities were not proximal predictors of spatial skills. For both arithmetic and spatial skills, mothers' spatial skills were a strong predictor. Future research and intervention implications of these findings are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

Sex differences have been previously found in cognitive and affective predictors of math achievement, including spatial skills and math attitudes. It is important to determine whether there are sex differences not only in the predictors themselves, but also in the nature of their relation to math achievement. The present paper examined spatial skills and math attitudes as predictors of curriculum-based measures of math performance in middle-school students, specifically comparing the patterns of these predictive relations for boys and girls. The results of the current study showed that, despite similar levels of math performance for boys and girls, the significance of particular predictors varied as a function of sex. Specifically, spatial skills predicted math performance in boys, but not in girls. We suggest that sex differences in spatial reasoning in conjunction with the differential involvement of spatial reasoning in math problem solving may lead to later sex differences in math outcomes. (Contains 3 tables.)