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 GeorgiaJessica 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

Measure 1960 2003

M/F undergraduate ratio

1.55 .77

M/F ratio graduating from 4-year schools

1.60 .74

Source: Goldin, Katz and Kuziemko (2006)

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

1. Do gender differences in academic achievement emerge in children ages 5-12, and, if so, in which subjects?

2. Are differences in teacher grades consistent with test-score differences?

3. How do the differences – in test scores and grades – change over time?

4. 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

Personal & family characteristicsPersonal Characteristics K First Third FifthMale 0.51 0.50 0.50 0.50 (0.50) (0.50) (0.50) (0.50) Black 0.13 0.12 0.09 0.08 (0.34) (0.32) (0.29) (0.28) Hispanic 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.15 (0.34) (0.35) (0.35) (0.36)

Family Characteristics

WIC Benefits 0.37 0.34 0.30 0.31 (0.48) (0.47) (0.46) (0.46) Teenage Mom 0.24 0.22 0.19 0.19 (0.42) (0.41) (0.39) (0.39) Mom > 30 years old 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.15 (0.33) (0.34) (0.35) (0.35) Age at K entry 65.70 65.79 65.79 65.73 (4.13) (4.15) (4.19) (4.17) # Books in the home 79.44 110.12 132.66 116.08 (60.18) (152.56) (185.52) (178.60) SES Index 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.08 (0.77) (0.78) (0.77) (0.79) Observations 10604 9299 6362 6496

Teacher & school characteristicsTeacher Characteristics K First Third FifthTeacher experience 9.06 14.85 15.11 14.62 (7.61) (10.09) (10.07) (10.22) Teacher education 2.11 2.13 2.20 2.24 (0.90) (0.93) (0.92) (0.92)

School Characteristics

Public school 0.80 0.79 0.78 0.78 (0.40) (0.41) (0.42) (0.41) Urban school 0.38 0.37 0.34 0.35 (0.48) (0.48) (0.47) (0.48) Rural school 0.24 0.23 0.26 0.26 (0.43) (0.42) (0.44) (0.44) Southern school 0.34 0.36 0.30 0.29 (0.47) (0.48) (0.46) (0.45) % Minority 50-75 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.08 (0.29) (0.29) (0.28) (0.27) % Minority >75 0.18 0.18 0.16 0.18 (0.39) (0.39) (0.37) (0.39) Observations 10604 9494 6658 6496

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 ScoresOn 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 ScoresThe “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)

Score, ARS and SRS data Female MaleReading Scores Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev.Fifth 144.17 20.81 141.02 23.06 Reading Grades Fifth 3.62 0.80 3.37 0.82 Math Scores Fifth 114.16 20.11 118.74 20.06 Math Grades Fifth 3.45 0.65 3.47 0.72 Science Scores Fifth 58.28 13.72 61.65 13.20 Science Grades Fifth 3.41 0.85 3.36 0.87 SRS Score for ATL Fifth 2.30 0.59 1.95 0.67

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

iiii uXmaley 10

Reading Scores (Male – Female)

Test scoresGirls outperform boys in every

case

GradesGirls receive higher grades in

every case, but the disparities are greater

Group K 1 3 5

W -.16 -.13 -.13 -.16

B -.16 -.17 -.25 -.26

H -.17 -.23 -.25 -.36

Group K 1 3 5

W -.26 -.25 -.26 -.29

B -.35 -.24 -.40 -.37

H -.22 -.21 -.33 -.38

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

Group K 1 3 5

W .06 .14 .28 .19

B -.06 -.08 .03 .18

H -.03 .09 .20 .02

Group K 1 3 5

W -.13 -.002 .09 .02

B -.28 -.11 -.24 -.28

H -.09 -.06 -.12 -.18

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

Group K 1 3 5

W .06 .11 .28 .25

B -.02 .05 .23 .56

H .05 .05 .13 .29

Group K 1 3 5

W -.11 -.06 .01 -.03

B -.27 -.13 -.22 .07

H -.11 -.03 -.04 -.21

Reading grades, test scores and behavior scores: whites

Whites First Grade (Spring) Third Grade (Spring) Fifth Grade (Spring)

(a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c)

Male -0.247* -0.161* -0.089* -0.258* -0.171* -0.087* -0.285* -0.185* -0.067

(0.032) (0.023) (0.023) (0.040) (0.032) (0.030) (0.057) (0.045) (0.046)

Test Scoret 0.672* 0.609* 0.674* 0.586* 0.617* 0.518*

(0.014) (0.014) (0.019) (0.020) (0.025) (0.030)

SRS Scoret-1 0.189* 0.235* 0.244*

(0.013) (0.018) (0.032)

R2 0.12 0.51 0.54 0.16 0.48 0.52 0.17 0.45 0.49

N 5983 5983 5983 4338 4338 4338 4327 4327 4327

Math grades, test scores and behavioral scores: whites

Whites First Grade (Spring) Third Grade (Spring) Fifth Grade (Spring)

(a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c)

Male -0.002 -0.072* 0.035 0.094* -0.072+ 0.033 0.022 -0.094+ 0.006

(0.032) (0.028) (0.028) (0.042) (0.038) (0.040) (0.063) (0.052) (0.048)

Test Scoret 0.491* 0.414* 0.601* 0.521* 0.604* 0.541*

(0.016) (0.017) (0.022) (0.025) (0.035) (0.037)

SRS Scoret-1 0.227* 0.204* 0.149*

(0.017) (0.024) (0.030)

R2 0.12 0.32 0.36 0.13 0.37 0.40 0.13 0.38 0.40

N 5983 5983 5983 4338 4338 4338 2113 2113 2113

Science grades, test scores and behavioral scores: whites

Whites First Grade (Spring) Third Grade (Spring) Fifth Grade (Spring)

(a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (c)

Male -0.063+ -0.110* 0.010 0.006 -0.117* -0.000 -0.026 -0.165* -0.032

(0.033) (0.031) (0.032) (0.042) (0.040) (0.041) (0.074) (0.069) (0.069)

Test Scoret 0.422* 0.335* 0.435* 0.372* 0.543* 0.446*

(0.025) (0.024) (0.023) (0.024) (0.049) (0.051)

SRS Scoret-1 0.261* 0.245* 0.250*

(0.018) (0.023) (0.041)

R2 0.10 0.19 0.25 0.11 0.24 0.29 0.12 0.28 0.32

N 5983 5983 5983 4338 4338 4338 2021 2021 2021

Summary (1/2)1. 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

2. 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)3. 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.

4. 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.