Eric.ed.gov – A Curriculum Redesign in Response to Students’ Anxiety to Math Competencies at the Secondary Level.

This action research project was designed to increase students’ math competencies and reduce math anxiety in targeted high school classes in a Midwestern suburb. The study included 37 students and took place from September through December in 2002. Factors influencing students’ math achievement included self-perceptions of math competence, teachers’ perceptions of students’ abilities, and an overemphasis on remediation which left students unchallenged and behind their peers (Fiore, 1999). Curriculum redesign is one way of improving students’ confidence and competence in their math abilities (Allexsaht-Snider and Hart, 2001). Given this, a curriculum redesign was selected as an intervention for this study. To document student progress in mathematical achievement and improve self-perception, methods of assessment used included surveys, document analysis, and observations. Post-intervention data indicated an increase in students’ comfort level related to math competencies. A review of solution strategies suggested within the literature, combined with an analysis of the setting, resulted in the selection of three primary solutions to be used as interventions: (1) a curriculum redesign that minimized tracking; (2) a constructivist teaching approach; and (3) the establishment of a community of learners. Data also revealed that students in the targeted groups were successful as a result of curriculum redesign. It is encouraged and suggested that discourse related to curriculum tracking provoked by this project continue within the site to further support students’ math competencies. (Author/SOE)