Encouraging Confidence in Math Suggested Theories: Self-Efficacy, Learned Helplessness, Achievement Goals and Mindset, Attributional Theory, and Assessment Teacher Challenges: Girls' Confidence in Math, Math Anxiety, Student Motivation and Engagement, Choosing Appropriate Assessment, Communica- tion with Parents, and Student Disruptions Student Level: Middle School It is the sixth week of class, and Mrs. Reynolds is the newest addition to the eighth-grade algebra department at Lakeview Middle School. She takes a moment from grading papers to look up at her second-period algebra class, which is busy working on this week's test. She pauses in her perusal when she notices Anne looking hopelessly out the window. Mrs. Reynolds waits to make eye contact with Anne, and at that point the student immediately returns to her test. Mrs. Reynolds inwardly sighs in frustration, as this is not the first instance of Anne's lack of attention to her schoolwork. The next day, Mrs. Reynolds asks the class to quickly make their way to their seats, as they have much to cover before the end of the period. "OK, class, I am going to pass out the test from yesterday..." Mrs. Reynolds begins but is shortly interrupted by William, one of her more boisterous stu- dents in the class. "Oh yeah, let me see my grade; I know no one is going to touch my grade this time. I studied my...," but before he can finish his sentence Mrs. Reynolds cuts him off short as she makes a pointed glance at William to stifle further interruptions. "I am really disappointed in some of you. There are two of you, as I've noted on your tests, whom I need to see after class because your answers look an awful lot alike." Many students begin to giggle and point fingers in the direction of the likely culprits. "However," Mrs. Reynolds continues, 81 82 Case 10 "I don't want to waste class time pointing fingers and complaining about the sorry state of your test scores. We need to keep on schedule and turn to the current lesson today. I don't need to emphasize how important this skill is for the final at the end of the year as well as the upcoming diagnostic tests." At this point, Mrs. Reynolds has made her way to Anne's desk. Just as she hands Anne her paper, Anne quickly flips it over before anyone can see her grade. Mrs. Reynolds notes that Anne quickly glances around to see if anyone might have noticed her grade. As Mrs. Reynolds attempts to begin the day's discussion on quadratic equations, she has to make repeated requests for students to put away their test from the day before. She tries to hide her frustration with two students in the back of the classroom who are busy comparing their grades. Once the two students see the teacher's attention is on them, however, they quickly give each other one last friendly shove and then straighten in their seats. "Now, class, I am going to give you the opportunity to get into your peer groups to work on today's problems. Each group is going to be responsible for one problem from the worksheet." Mrs. Reynolds begins to pass out the worksheet while students move about into their preassigned groups. "I'll give you a moment to look over these problems," Mrs. Reynolds continues, "and then I'll start recording which problems each group volunteers to work on." Mrs. Reynolds allows the groups to take a few minutes to discuss the worksheets. She circles around to observe Anne's group. The unofficial group leader, Lilly Mitchells, engages the group in her usual take-charge attitude. "I think we should do the fourth problem; it is just like the one we learned about last week and I know we can do it." A couple of the other group members agree, but Mrs. Reynolds notices that Anne remains uninvolved other than to drop her eyes and nod her head in mute acknowledgment. One of the other group members dares to disagree. "Well, what are we going to learn if we do that? What if one of these other problems is on the next test? I don't know about any of you, but I got a lousy C on yesterday's test." At this point, Mrs. Reynolds notices most of the groups are starting to socialize, and she realizes they have had enough time to consider their choice of problem. She directs the class to begin solving their problems as she makes her way to her desk to finish sorting through some cumulative files. As the period is about to end, Mrs. Reynolds asks students to make their way back to their original seats. Within moments, the bell rings, and most of the students are off like a shot to make the most of their few precious moments between classes. She notices Anne hesitating in packing up her books and makes her way over to the student. "Anne, is there something amiss? Don't you have to get to your third-period class?" Anne appears to wrestle with something but then breaks down and begins to unload her worries over her academic performance and her grades in Mrs. Encouraging Confidence in Math 83 Reynolds's class. "I just can't get another bad grade or my parents will lock me up and throw away the key. I just can't imagine getting in any more trou- ble than I already am!" Mrs. Reynolds responds, "But, Anne, you have never once asked for my help, and I always notice you staring out the window." At this point, Anne seems to become quite calm, looks out the window as if concluding something she has been avoiding, and then looks up to respond to Mrs. Reynolds. "I try and try, but it just doesn't matter. I am not good at this algebra stuff, and there is no getting around that. Some people just aren't good at math. I should really ask myself why I even bother." "Now, hold on a minute, Anne," Mrs. Reynolds interjects. "I know you can do this work. I have faith in you. Plus, look at Loralee, Edith, and Isabelle... they are good friends of yours, right? They get strong grades in this class. If they can do it, so can you." Anne smiles but glances down at her watch, realizing what time it is. "Listen, I appreciate your help, but I don't want to add after-school detention for being tardy to Mr. Lopez's Spanish class to my glorified record." A month later, Mrs. Reynolds is grading the most recent unit tests. As she gets to Anne's test she skims over the answers and closes her eyes in frustra- tion. Without finishing the grading of the test, she realizes that Anne is going to be less than pleased with the score. She had hoped to see an improvement in Anne's score after their little chat a month prior. But apparently it hadn't made much of a difference. As she looks back on it, she begins to wonder at her naivet in thinking such superficial feedback would have seriously helped Anne. Anne clearly had strong perceived inadequacies where this subject matter was concerned, and Anne's sense of hopelessness over the weeks since their chat had only become more evident. Anne hardly ever volunteered to answer questions in class, and she asked for no further help and continued to day- dream in class. Even on the few occasions she went to Anne's desk to check up on her work, Anne would make half-hearted attempts without really trying to apply herself to the task. Mrs. Reynolds begins to ask herself what she is supposed to do now. How can she reach this student and help her to see that this situation doesn't have to be as hopeless as it appears?