Challenges and strengths that influence students' math achievement

What is it about?

This study examines how students’ academic strains and multilevel strengths relate to their math achievement in high school and how this relationship varies by gender and race/ethnicity. Our findings show that the objective and emotional challenges that students encounter due to under-preparation in middle school (measured by math proficiency and math anxiety) are negatively related with math achievement in high school. At the same time, students’ strengths at both family and personal levels (e.g., whether students spoke with their parents about selecting courses, whether students looked forward to mathematics class) are positively related to later math achievement. In this study, OLS regression was used to analyze the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988.

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Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings suggest that understanding students’ strains and strengths provides a more holistic approach for improving math achievement, which is a critical subject area for further STEM success. More importantly, the findings from this study show that the relative importance of strains and strengths on achievement differs by student subgroups. If policymakers and educational practitioners are to broaden pathways to STEM professions for diverse populations including female and students of color, they should consider strategies for addressing these strains and strengths in multifaceted ways.