Betsy Showalter

Middle School Teachers' Influence on Their Students'mathematics Attitudes Betsy Showalter

Participants in this study were eight U. S. middleschool mathematics teachers and the students in oneof each of their classes. One purpose of the studywas to determine if there was a relationship betweenthe teachers' teaching efficacy beliefs and theirstudents' attitudes toward mathematics. Additionally,the researcher explored whether a middle schoolstudent's attitude toward mathematics influenced hisor her plans to enroll in mathematics courses beyondthose required for graduation. The teachers completedthe Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument(MTEBI) and a questionnaire and were interviewed bythe researcher. The students completed three of theFennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales (F-SMAS) and a questionnaire and the researcherinterviewed two students from each class. Pearson's rwas used to determine the significance of therelationship between mathematics teaching efficacybeliefs and attitude toward mathematics.