Efficacy of Number Concepts Training Using Separate Skimming in Reducing School Phobia in Students with Mathematics Disorder

Background and School phobia is one of the main problems of students. Since academic failure is more prevalent among students with learning disorder, school phobia is more common among these students. Present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of number concepts training using separate skimming in reducing school phobia among students with mathematics disorder. Present study was an experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group design. Population consisted of all the second grade elementary students with learning disorder that were studying in Parnian Center in Yazd (N= 80). Sample consisted of 30 students that were selected using diagnostic interview and Raven Test, and then randomly assigned in experimental (N= 15) or control (N= 15) groups. Purposeful and random sampling methods were used respectively in the first and second stages of sampling. The experimental group received eight sessions of number concepts training using separate skimming (45-minuts per session). Data were collected using the questionnaire for diagnosing children with anxiety disorders (Brimaher et al, 1999), Iran Key Math Test (IKMT), and Raven Test. the results of one-way analysis of covariance showed a significant difference between the groups’ school phobia after training (p < 0.0001, F= 21.13). The results of current study indicated that number concepts training using separate skimming could significantly reduce school phobia among students with learning disorder.