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The Gender Gap in Academic Achievement among Primary-School Children: Test Scores, Teacher Grades and the Importance of Non-Cognitive Skills. Chris Cornwell, University of Georgia David Mustard, University of Georgia Jessica Van Parys, Columbia University.
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The Gender Gap in Academic Achievement among Primary-School Children:Test Scores, Teacher Grades and the Importance of Non-Cognitive Skills Chris Cornwell, University of Georgia David Mustard, University of Georgia Jessica Van Parys, Columbia University
‘The challenge for all of us is how to engage these guys at a younger age,’ said Nancy Beane, a college counselor from the Westminster Schools in Atlanta.
Motivation Today, females are more likely than males to … • Graduate high school • Enroll in college immediately following high school • Graduate from college within six years
Why do gender differences matter? • Implications for the functioning of … • Labor markets: labor-force participation, wage gap, within-industry and occupation diversity • Marriage markets: matching, fertility rates, family structure • Implications for human-capital policy • Single-sex classrooms? • Same-sex teachers? • Gender-based college admission?
Our contribution • Examine gender differences in test scores and teacher grades • Link classroom behavior to grades • Why teacher grades are important • Determine class-level placement, HS graduation and college admissibility • Feedback to student influences academic choices
The questions we address • Do gender differences in academic achievement emerge in children ages 5-12, and, if so, in which subjects? • Are differences in teacher grades consistent with test-score differences? • How do the differences – in test scores and grades – change over time? • To what extent can non-cognitive skills explain the differences?
Data • Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, 1998-99 Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) • Tracks a nationally representative sample of students from kindergarten to fifth grade • Begins with 10,604 students • Ends with 6,496 students • Records test scores (IRT scores) and teacher grades (ARS scores) in reading, math, and science, teachers’ behavioral assessments of students (SRS scores) • Rich information on family, teacher and school characteristics
Measures of academic achievement • IRT Scores • NCES develops and administers tests • Tests based on standard curriculum in reading, math and science • Intended to test the same skills assessed by teachers • ARS and SRS Scores • NCES administers questionnaires to the teachers • Teachers rate child’s knowledge and ability on specific components of the reading, math, and science curriculum • From these questionnaires NCES creates a composite score, which is the “teacher grade” in our analysis • Teachers do not know the test score when they answer questions about academic ability
ARS and SRS examples ARS Scores On a scale of 1-5 where 1 implies the child has not yet demonstrated the skill and 5 indicates proficiency … (1) “This child reads words with regular vowel sounds.” (2) “This child reads first grade books independently with comprehension.” (ECLS-K First Grade Teacher Questionnaire Part C for language and literacy) SRS Scores The “Approaches to Learning” scale measures behaviors that … “affect the ease with which children can benefit from the learning environment. It includes six items that rate the child’s attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, flexibility and organization.” (ECLS-K First Grade User Manual)
Baseline achievement regression • Outcomes – test scores and teacher-assigned grades for a given student (i) in a particular subject for a certain grade level • OLS estimation by grade-level cross section: spring K, first, third and fifth grades • Use ECLS-K sample weights
Reading Scores (Male – Female) Test scores Girls outperform boys in every case Grades Girls receive higher grades in every case, but the disparities are greater Also, observables explain more test-score than grades variation.
Math Scores (Male – Female) Test scores • White boys outperform white girls in every grade • For blacks and Hispanics, no clear evidence of a gender gap Grades • White boys and girls receive roughly similar grades • Some evidence that black boys receive significantly lower grades • Disparity between test-score and grade gaps rise with grade level
Science (Male – Female) Test scores • Through 1st grade, small and imprecisely estimated differences favoring boys • After 1st grade, boys generally outperform girls by at least .25 sd Grades • Boys generally receive lower grades • Disparity between test-score and grade gaps rise with grade level
Summary (1/2) Do gender differences in academic achievement emerge in children ages 5-12, and, if so, in which subjects? YES Girls of all races outperform boys on reading tests. White boys outperform white girls on math and science tests. There are no gender differences in math test scores for black and Hispanic children. After 1st grade, boys generally outperform girls in science by at least .25 sd Are differences in teacher grades consistent with test-score differences? NO Girls receive higher reading grades than test scores would suggest. There is no statistically significant difference in math or science grades for white children. Black and Hispanic boys receive lower grades in math and science, despite their equivalent or higher test scores.
Summary (2/2) How do the differences – in test scores and grades – change over time? The reading test score gap is constant over time for white students, but increases for black and Hispanic students. The math test score gap increases over time for white students, but is constant for black and Hispanic students. To what extent can non-cognitive skills explain the differences? Classroom behavior explains the gender differences in test scores and grades. When boys and girls have the same test scores and exhibit the same classroom behavior, boys earn higher grades.
