Common Misconceptions: Timed Tests (and Other Instructional Activities) Cause Math Anxiety
MISCONCEPTION
Many educators believe math anxiety is caused by instructional activities and timed tests.
In schools, educators may interpret students disengaging in math activities or saying they dislike math as math anxiety. Educators may reduce the difficulty of a math lesson or remove timed activities in an effort to reduce math anxiety.
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TRUTH
Math anxiety is defined as feelings of apprehension, tension, or fear that may interfere with performance on math-related tasks.1,2 No studies have determined that timed tests cause math anxiety. In fact, timed tactics improve math performance.2,3 Math anxiety is bi-directionally related to skill development—people with weaker skill proficiency report higher rates of anxiety and people reporting higher math anxiety have weaker skills.4,5
Because weak skill proficiency often precedes math anxiety, one way to prevent math anxiety is to build skill proficiency and use methods of instruction that permit students to experience a high rate of success while gaining skill proficiency. Another key implication is that avoiding math instruction, reducing student exposure to challenging math instruction, and removing timed practice can be expected to worsen rather than improve math anxiety because those instructional decisions can be expected to worsen skill development.
Math anxiety is not stable within students across instructional conditions-- some conditions worsen while some mitigate anxiety for the same student. Research examining the environmental drivers of math anxiety in instructional contexts can lead to instructional management and prevention of math anxiety in the classroom. For example, in one experimental study, math anxiety did not differ between the overt and covert timing conditions (meaning timed performance was not the driver of anxiety), but more complex tasks were associated with greater anxiety.6 Another study found that math anxiety was more likely for students who were given instruction that was misaligned with their measured instructional needs and those students experienced less anxiety when they were given instruction that was aligned with their measured learning needs.7
Why are timed tests helpful?
Timed tests provide critical information for student mastery of key skills and concepts.
Once a student reaches 100% accuracy, the accuracy metric cannot capture additional learning.⁸,⁹
Rate-based metrics are reliable and better indicators of a student’s instructional level. Thus, timed assessment provides superior assessment data that is necessary to drive effective instruction. Not all assessment need be timed, but timed assessment is a necessary part of math instruction⁹,¹⁰,¹¹
Why are timed activities helpful?
Timed tasks are fluency-building activities.
Timed activities are necessary to promote math mastery when students have established a high level of accuracy and conceptual understanding.
Fluency is a necessary dimension of math mastery associated with robust understanding and flexible problem solving.²
HOW DO YOU ADDRESS MATH ANXIETY?12,13
Promote skill development through effective instruction.
Include fluency-building tactics in core instruction every day.
Use language focused on working hard and showing growth rather than attaining a benchmark criterion.
Support practices with tasks that increase in difficulty as students master skills.
Avoid tasks where students have to “figure it out,” and save those tasks for students who have mastered the fundamentals.
Citation: Advocates for the Science of Math (2021). Common misconceptions: Timed tests (and other instructional activities) cause math anxiety. Authors.
(1) Namkung, J. M., Peng, P., & Lin, X. (2019). The relation between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance among school-aged students: a Meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 89(3), 459–496. https://doi: 10.3102/0034654319843494
(2) Fuchs, L.S., Newman-Gonchar, R., Schumacher, R., Dougherty, B., Bucka, N., Karp, K.S., Woodward, J., Clarke, B., Jordan, N. C., Gersten, R., Jayanthi, M., Keating, B., and Morgan, S. (2021). Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades (WWC 2021006). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://whatworks.ed.gov/.
(3) Grays, S., Rhymer, K., & Swartzmiller, M. (2017). Moderating effects of mathematics anxiety on the effectiveness of explicit timing. Journal of Behavioral Education, 26(2), 188–200.
https://doi:10.1007/s10864-016-9251-6
(4) Gunderson, E. A., Park, D., Maloney, E. A., Beilock, S. L. & Levine, S. C. (2018) Reciprocal relations among motivational frameworks, math anxiety, and math achievement in early elementary school. Journal of Cognition and Development, 19, 21–46. https://doi:10.1080/15248372.2017.1421538
(5) Hart, S. A., & Ganley, C. M. (2019). The nature of math anxiety in adults: Prevalence and correlates. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 5, 122–139.
(6) Maki, K. E., Zaslofsky, A. F., Codding, R., & Woods, B. (accepted for publication). Math anxiety in elementary students: Examining the role of timing, task complexity, task difficulty, and strategy use. Journal of School Psychology.
(7) Codding, R. S., VanDerHeyden, A., & Chehayeb, R. (2023). Using Data to Intensify Math Instruction: An Evaluation of the Instructional Hierarchy. Remedial and Special Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325231194354
(8) VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Codding, R. S. (2020). Belief-Based Versus Evidence-Based Math Assessment and Instruction: What School Psychologists Need to Know to Improve Student Outcomes. Research-Based Practice; Communique, 48 (5), p. 1, 20-25.
(9) VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Solomon, B. (2023). The limits of accuracy and why fluency is a superior metric. School Psychology, 38(3), 160-172. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000528
(10) Solomon, B., G., VanDerHeyden, A. M., Solomon, E. C., Korzeniewski, E. R., Payne, L. L., Campaña, K. V., & Dillon, C. R. (2022). Mastery Measurement in Mathematics and the Goldilocks Effect. School Psychology, 37, 213-224. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000496.
(11) Burns, M. K., VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Jiban, C. (2006). Assessing the instructional level for mathematics: A comparison of methods. School Psychology Review, 35, 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2006.12087975
(12) Passolunghi et al. (2019) Passolunghi, M.C., Cargnelutti, E. & Pellizzoni, S. The relation between cognitive and emotional factors and arithmetic problem-solving. Educ Stud Math 100, 271–290 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9863-y
(13) Codding, R. S., Goodridge, A. E., Hill, E., Kromminga, K. R., Chehayeb, R., Volpe, R. J., & Scheman, N. (2023). Meta-analysis of skill-based and therapeutic interventions to address math anxiety. Journal of School Psychology, 100, 1-16.