The Effects of Math Tutoring Sessions for Parents on Eighth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement and Anxiety

Author(s)

Susan ScottFollow

Date

4-2014

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Keywords

Michael Preuss

Disciplines

Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Educational Psychology | Science and Mathematics Education

Recommended Citation

Scott, Susan, "The Effects of Math Tutoring Sessions for Parents on Eighth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement and Anxiety" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 838.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/838

Abstract

Educators across the United States have searched for avenues to improve students' mathematics achievement since the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) which reported that American students were behind students in other countries academically. Recent legislation, No Child Left Behind (2001), continues to address the need for improvement in mathematics among K-12 students. A possible intervention in middle school is to incorporate parental involvement. Numerous researchers (Colombo, 2006; Desimone, 1999; Epstein, 2008; Flynn, 2006; Henderson & Berla, 1994; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005; Wherry, 2006) have demonstrated the positive outcomes of parental involvement on children's education. This construct was investigated by analyzing the effects of math workshops for parents of eighth grade students on student math achievement and anxiety levels. Two theories form the foundation for the study: (a) Epstein's (1987) Theory of Overlapping Spheres which describes the behavioral practices of parental involvement and (b) Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's (1995, 1997) Model of Parental Involvement, which is based on psychosocial constructs that affect the relationship between parental involvement and students' successes. A Nonequivalent Control-Group design and a Static-Group Comparison Design were used in the study with a sample of 105 eighth grade math students and their parents. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted for hypothesis one and a Two-Sample t-test was employed for hypothesis two. These statistical measures revealed no significant difference between eighth grade students' math achievement and math anxiety levels for students whose parents attended math workshops, and those students whose parents did not attend math workshops.