MATHEMATICS ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN GRADES FIVE THROUGH SEVEN IN A SOUTHCENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL DISTRICT (GENDER, SEX)

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of three variables, sex, grade level, and mathematics achievement, with attitudes toward mathematics in selected middle school pupils. The nature of the attitude-achievement relationship and the effects of grade and achievement level upon that relationship were two factors of major concern in the investigation. The sample was composed of approximately 600 students in grades 5 through 7 attending a small rural middle school in southcentral Pennsylvania. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were administered in April, 1983. A Semantic differential attitude scale was administered on May 9, 1983. The scale, developed by Anttonen, measured student attitudes toward mathematics in general and six of its subunits; addition, fractions, decimals, metrics, geometry, and word problems. Correlation studies were conducted and low positive coefficients, ranging from 0.05 and 0.15, were found for mathematics and three of its subunits. Correlation coefficients of no statistical significance were found for fractions and word problems. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) studies were conducted utilizing a 2 x 3 x 3 factorial design with sex, grade, and achievement level as main effects. Significant differences (p. \u3c .05) in student attitude were found for the main effects of achievement and grade level and for the two-way interaction effects of the same two variables. The findings of the study seemed to imply that: (1) Gender is not a significant factor in the development of attitude toward mathematics of the attitude-achievement relationship for students in grades 5 through 7. (2) Attitude in general is only slightly related to achievement. (3) The grade level of students is a significant factor in both the development of student attitudes and the strength of the attitude-achievement relationship