Relationship between parents’ perception of children’s mathematical ability and arithmetic fluency: a gender-based study

Abstract

Arithmetic fluency is a foundational component of mathematical competence; it is influenced by both cognitive and environmental factors, including parental beliefs about their children’s abilities. The present study examined the relationship between parental perceptions of children’s mathematical ability and children’s arithmetic fluency, with a focus on gender differences within the Bangladeshi context. A cross-sectional design was employed, with a sample of 285 students from grades three to five in three Bangla-medium schools in Dhaka, along with their parents. Children completed the Mathematics Fluency subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- Third Edition (WIAT-III). In addition, parents completed the Parental Perceptions of Mathematical Talent (PPMT) questionnaire, which was culturally adapted into Bangla using the TRAPD (Translation, Review, Adjudication, Pretesting, Documentation) framework. A 2 × 2 between-groups ANOVA indicated that irrespective of the children’s gender, fathers’ and mothers’ perceptions of their child’s mathematical ability did not differ. However, an independent-samples t-test revealed a small gender difference in arithmetic fluency, with boys showing slightly higher arithmetic fluency than girls. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that children’s arithmetic fluency could be significantly predicted by parental perceptions, controlling for gender. The findings highlight the importance of parental beliefs in shaping children’s mathematical ability and suggest that parental perceptions play a stronger predictive role in children’s arithmetic ability than gender alone.

Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 35(2), 85-102, 2026 (July)