The developmental trajectories of math skills and its relation to math interest in Grades three and five

Understanding math and the ability to use math in various situations can greatly contribute to a successful life. Different math skills are of importance for understanding and supporting math ability. In addition, math interest may influence math ability. We investigated the relationship between math conceptual and procedural skills, their development over time, and the relation to math interest in Grades three and five. Participants in the study were Estonian students (N = 855), who were in Grade three (2019/2020) during the first testing and in Grade five (2021/2022) during the second testing. Students completed math competence testing which consisted of procedural and conceptual skill tasks and a questionnaire about math interest. Both person- and variable-oriented approaches were used in the analyses. Students’ math conceptual and procedural skills in Grades three and five were moderately related to each other. Furthermore, based on latent profile analysis, three profiles of skills were identified in both grades, distinguishing between students with low, average, and high levels of skills in both skills, with the exception of an approximately average-skill group in Grade five that had low conceptual skills but average procedural skills. Students were likely to remain in similar-skill groups for both Grades three and five. Lastly, there was a significant difference in math interest in Grade three among the groups with stable low, stable average, and stable high skills from Grades three to five. Fostering interest in math may be beneficial for achieving a high level of math proficiency. Future research should prioritize the integration of person-oriented methods into studies aimed at enhancing understanding of math skill development.