effects of the Enright Arithmetic Program on the emotional deficits associated with learned helplessness

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a particular mathematics program, which has been proven effective in changing student proficiency in mathematics, will also alter student emotional reactions to failure. The program selected for this study is unique in that through a series of diagnostic tests and remedial lessons, the student and teacher can accurately pinpoint the student's processing errors in mathematics. The sample consisted of 126 eighth grade mathematics students from a public middle school. There were five independent variables: sex, race (black vs. white), attributional style (internal vs. external), proficiency level in mathematics (high vs. low), and grouping for instruction (Enright Program vs. control). The dependent variables consisted of test scores collected before the mathematics program and immediately after completion of the program on the affective factors of anxiety, hostility, and depression. The results showed a significant difference in student emotional reactions to failure after being exposed to the Enright Arithmetic Program as compared to students in the control group. The students in the Enright group had significantly less negative affective reactions to failure in relation to all three of the dependent variables after working with the Enright Arithmetic Program than did the students who were not afforded the opportunity to work with the program. This study thus demonstrated that the Enright Arithmetic Program not only improves student proficiency levels in mathematics, but also alters students' emotional reactions to a stressful failure situation in the classroom in a positive way.