Building primary students’ confidence as the key to maths success in all your learners (even those who have previously struggled)

Building primary students’ confidence as the key to maths success in all your learners (even those who have previously struggled) 

3-4 minute read 

Building primary school students’ confidence in maths is absolutely key to their engagement, and to setting them up for maths success. And while this is easy to achieve with students who already enjoy maths, for those who find it difficult, some additional methods to build their confidence can make an enormous difference to their maths engagement and educational outcomes.

In primary school classrooms, maths learners who are struggling may try to hide their insecurities and avoid risk. They might ask fewer questions, avoid explaining their thinking, or settle for lower-performance tasks.

However, research now clearly shows that increasing a student’s maths self-efficacy changes these behaviours, leading to more engagement, higher achievement, and improved attitudes (Huang, 2019; Ramirez et al., 2018).

Lower maths anxiety, coupled with explicit teaching of problem-solving strategies and positive feedback, leads to measurable improvements in maths achievement among early elementary students

What the research tells us

The importance of student confidence in maths achievement is backed by recent research findings.

Huang’s (2019) meta-analysis found strong links between self-efficacy beliefs and later gains in maths performance.

And Ramirez et al. (2018) demonstrated that lower maths anxiety, coupled with explicit teaching of problem-solving strategies and positive feedback, leads to measurable improvements in maths achievement among early elementary students.

Classroom practices that build confidence

To apply the research theory within your classroom, you might like to try some of the following.

• Scaffolded success: Begin with tasks that are challenging but achievable, support with hints or models, then gradually remove supports as competence grows. Use success early to build momentum.
• Explicitly teach growth mindset: Integrate messages and routines around the idea that intelligence and skill grow with effort. Use phrases like “you’re improving”, “you’re working hard”, etc.
• Normalise struggle and error: Discuss errors openly. For example, show common mistakes and talk as a class about how to fix them. Encourage students to view missteps as opportunities to refine thinking.
• Student reflection and metacognitive talk: After solving problems, prompt students to reflect: “What worked? What was tricky? If you did it again, what would you try differently?” This helps them see learning as process.
• Frequent formative feedback: Feedback focusing on strategies, effort, and reasoning (not just whether they got it right) helps students feel capable and see direction for improvement (Ramirez et al., 2018). 
• Provide worded problems on topics that are more interesting and fun for students to solve. Building maths confidence starts with students’ willingness to engage. Providing fun maths word problems that appeal to students’ natural interests is a great way to grab their attention and foster true maths engagement.  

Some further practical tips

Some additional simple things you can do to build maths confidence in all your students include:

• Displaying growth mindset posters or routines in class.
• Dedicating time for students to share how they solved problems, including their thinking and struggles.
• Using assessments that capture strategy and thinking, not just correct answers, and provide feedback accordingly.

Key takeaway for teachers

When maths confidence is built intentionally, learners who have previously struggled do more than improve in calculation – they become more willing to try, risk error, and learn. This shift in mindset and approach can transform students’ maths achievement and the broader classroom environment.

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Classroom tip

You may love the idea of explicitly building your students’ maths confidence in the classroom, and providing your learners with worded maths questions that appeal to their interests each week is a great way of starting to do this. But your already heavy load as a teacher makes it hard. You need to find the time, the focus and the headspace to prepare them. And that’s where Matharoo can help. 

Matharoo produces fresh-weekly worded problem sheets for primary school-aged learners featuring questions drawn from last week’s current events, pop culture and sports news stories. They’re written specifically to be of interest to primary school-aged kids, ready-to-go. And written by qualified educators, Matharoo is curriculum-aligned so will be the perfect supplement to your existing lesson plan.  

Kids love Matharoo, teachers say it’s a weekly delight, and parents say they notice the difference in their kids’ attitudes to maths. Matharoo brings real-world relevance to maths, making it meaningful and fun for young learners.  

Watch as maths comes alive for your students. Join the Matharoo crew. 

References 

Huang, C. (2016). Achievement goals and self-efficacy: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 19. doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.07.002

Ramirez G, Chang H, Maloney EA, Levine SC, Beilock SL. (2016). On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early elementary school: The role of problem solving strategies. J Exp Child Psychol. 2016 Jan;141:83-100. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.07.014