Educational evaluation schemes and gender gaps in student achievement

Teachers and the gender gaps in student achievement

In the United States, girls outperform boys in measures of reading achievement while generally underperforming in science and mathematics. One major class of explanations for these gaps involves the gender-based interactions between students and teachers (e.g., role-model and Pygmalion effects). However, the evidence on whether these interactions actually matter is limited and contradictory. In...

Educational Testing: Measuring and Remedying Achievement Gaps

Achievement gaps, as measured by standardized tests, are inextricably related to educational goals, standards, norms, and benchmarks for student learning outcomes. I revisit conventional approaches to educational testing to measure achievement gaps—norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and potential-referenced tests. I explore and discuss a paradigm shift from “passive” tests to “responsive” t...

Gender and Student Achievement in English Schools

Racial and gender science achievement gaps in secondary education.

A substantial disparity exists for academic achievement in science between Black and White primary-school children. A similar gap exists between boys and girls. The extent to which secondary education influences these achievement gaps has not been established. The authors report analyses showing how these science achievement gaps change as a function of secondary education. Analyses of data fro...

Community Poverty, Industrialization, and Educational Gender Gaps in Rural China

This paper investigates community impoverishment and industrialization as explanations for educational gender gaps in rural China with analysis of a multi-province household survey and a longitudinal study of youth in one impoverished province. We consider attributes of poor communities that might shape gaps and the related roles of household and community poverty. Three major results emerge fr...