The measurement of mathematics anxiety: The mathematics anxiety rating scale for adolescents—MARS-A

Describes the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents (MARS-A). Normative data on over 1,200 junior high and senior high students are reported.1 Appreciation is owed to Elizabeth Whitaker for her outstanding efforts and to Marvin Boeding for his work in data collection. In addition, psychometric data that relate to reliability and construct validity of the MARS-A scale are discussed. Two factors were identified in the scale, a factor of numerical anxiety that appeared in 91% of the items and a factor of mathematics test anxiety that appeared in the remaining items. Results that show the association between high mathematics anxiety scale scores and low grade average in mathematics courses are reported on two samples of students.