Understanding the relationship between mathematics anxiety and math fact fluency in fourth and fifth grade students

Abstract

This study investigated the predictive relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance using a more sensitive measure of performance, fluency. Fourth and fifth grade students completed a seven-page packed which included a demographic questionnaire, the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), a mixed math probe measuring accuracy, timed tests in basic mathematical operations (i.e., addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Findings from the hierarchical multiple regression suggests that in addition to demographic information and accuracy-based measures, adding fluency to the model increased the overall model’s predictive capacity at predicting overall mathematics anxiety. Additionally, when controlling for the impact of all other variables, fluency maintained a significant unique contribution towards mathematics anxiety. Discussion focuses on implications for school personnel providing services to support and remediate math skill development in children.