Describes a study of Norwegian undergraduates which attempted to explain previous research showing that women have a lower expectancy than men before examinations. Reports that little evidence was found to support the assumption that sex differences in expectancy can be understood as an aspect of differences in more general instrumental…

Using Israeli biology matriculation examination results from 1983 and 1984, this article compares the achievement of Arab and Jewish students on the paper and pencil examinations and the practical laboratory examinations. Achievement differences between girls and boys are discussed, as well as the effects of a inquiry-oriented biology curriculum.…

A study was conducted of differences in academic performance of boys and girls in Wales, exploring factors that might explain any differences and making recommendations about further studies that might be needed. The statistical analysis is based on statutory assessment and examination results for Wales. At an all-Wales level, for all subjects,…

Effects of sex, education, and age on total test score on the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test, a college entrance examination, are studied using applicants aged over 25 with 1 to 4 years' work experience. About 10,000 applicants have taken the test annually since 1977. Genuine differences appear in each variable studied. (SLD)

Studied the relationship between gender and mathematical problem solving in 83 male and 76 female high achieving Canadian 12-year-olds. Gender differences were found on the Canadian Test of Basic Skills but not on the GAUSS assessment. Implications for the discussion of the origin of gender differences in mathematics are discussed. (SLD)

Considers various research projects attempting to explain examination outcome differences between boys and girls and describes policies to resolve the "problem." British girls have higher attainment levels in English, Welsh, languages, and humanities; no achievement gaps exist in other subjects. There are no convincing explanations or…

This report builds on the analyses reported in "Knowledge and Skills for Life" by examining results from all of the 43 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000. This report presents the distributions of performance in each country, not only average scores. In addition, it uses…

Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test results from Spring 1984 through Fall 1986 were analyzed for 14,768 males and 16,574 females with regard to gender differences at the item level. For four of the six subtests, differences were related to item subject content; this was untrue for the two quantitative subtests. (SLD)

Discusses the consequences for equity issues in testing and evaluation that come with the inclusion of performance assessment components in public examinations. Uses data from the British General Certificate of Secondary Education to show effects on course work offered and gender equity and that student evaluation does not always function as…

The relationship between gender and mathematical achievement was investigated in 440 female and 480 male Norwegian third graders. Boys had higher test scores, but the effect size was small. Boys performed better in numeracy, mental arithmetic, and measurement problems. Marked gender differences were found at extreme tails of the distribution.…

Differential tendencies to avoid guessing on the Psychometric Entrance Test (the Israeli college entrance examination) were studied as a function of language group, gender, and examination date for over 10,000 students. Students with different cultural backgrounds and genders differed in their tendencies to guess. Implications for test results are…

Selection effects in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test due to socioeconomic status (SES) were studied using data from longitudinal studies (n=8,222). Results show that subjects from low SES groups constitute the most positively-selected group even though they obtain the lowest test scores. Gender and grade differences are discussed. (MAK)

The effect of different item formats (multiple choice and open) on gender differences in test performance was studied for the Swedish Diagrams, Tables, and Maps (DTM) test with 90 secondary school students. The change to open format resulted in no reduction in gender differences on the DTM. (SLD)

Although the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has been administered to Chinese test takers in Taiwan and Hong Kong for more than 22 years and in China for the past decade, there is very little documentation on the history, test taker volumes, performance, or law school admission rates of these candidates. The current study addresses the following…

Assesses relative effects of gender, place of residence, socioeconomic background, high school performance, and college entrance examination scores on Indonesian public university system access. Examination scores are the major determinant of college admission; however, gender, residence, and background affect who takes the examination and how…