There is a global concern regarding boys' poor engagement in literacy activities. It is suggested that boys enjoy ways of learning that are active and have explicit goals. Readers' theater (RT) provides an active and collaborative means of practicing oral reading fluency, with a clear goal of performing for an audience at the end of training. In…

Despite some gains, women continue to be underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Using a national longitudinal dataset of 690 participants born in 1991, we tested whether spatial skills, measured in middle childhood, would help explain this gender gap. We modeled the relation between 4th-grade spatial…

Background: This empirical study aims to investigate the association between mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics achievement gaps among students in Grades 4, 8, and 12, utilizing data from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study also considers student-level (e.g., mathematics self-efficacy, gender,…

Gender disparity in education is a perpetually compelling issue. It is especially attention-grabbing in economically disadvantaged areas, as it may reinforce backwardness on top of economic vulnerability. Underpinned by the self-determination theory, this study examined the underlying mechanisms that gave rise to gender differences in the academic…

The reading achievement gap between Black and White students was 29 points in Florida, depicting an alarming eight-point increase over that of the United States. Within School District A, the reading achievement gap was over 40% for over 4 years resulting in a district-wide plan for reconciliation and to determine the contributing factors of the…

Math and English Language Arts (ELA) are two major areas that continue to show gender achievement gaps in U.S. students. Given the importance of peer relations in academic success, the degree of gender integration in classrooms in early elementary school may shift student interest and performance to lessen these gender gaps. We tested the…

We investigated effects of tracking students into higher, more academic, and lower, less academic, school types immediately after primary school (early tracking) instead of having a comprehensive secondary school system (late tracking) on school gender segregation and gender gaps in achievement outcomes. We assumed that, in early tracking…

This dissertation researched the scope of mathematics achievement disparities in the United States and how these disparities can be minimized through a self-efficacy lens. To answer pertinent research questions with data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2019 mathematics assessment in Grades 4, 8, and 12, gap analyses,…

The opportunity gap continues to widen in the U.S. education setting due to the ever-growing diversification of student populations resulting in part from increasing numbers of BIPOC students in schools. Meanwhile, most educators continue to be White middle-class females. In this study, fourth- and fifth-grade students at a K-8 charter school were…

This issue of the Adult Skills in Focus series looks at gender differences in reading (literacy) and mathematics (numeracy) skills, and in particular how these differences evolve as people grow up. The analysis use data on three different assessments, administered to children in fourth grade (around 10 year-olds), to 15-year old adolescents, and…

The study was designed to provide key factors that impact male reading gaps in relation to females using a quantitative approach. K-5 teachers and reading specialists were given a survey on reading and how it pertains to males and reading. The surveys consisted of the importance of reading, reading efficacy, reading avoidance, reading challenges,…

The purpose of this study is to develop tests for monitoring the number sense skills of primary school students based on proficiency definitions and to compare their number sense skills according to gender, school type, and mother's educational level. The first stage addressed to test development in which anchor items were used for vertical…

Growing evidence suggests that contrary to popular belief, schools mostly do not generate achievement gaps in cognitive skills but, rather, reflect the inequalities that already exist. In the case of socioeconomic status, exposure to school often reduces gaps. Surprisingly little is known, however, about whether this pattern extends to gender gaps…

America is in a reading crisis. The authors of this new report point out, two in three American fourth-graders are performing below proficient in the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)--known as the "Nation's Report Card." There's another troubling component to this crisis. Important segments of society are being left…

Based on growing evidence of the long-term benefits of enriched early childhood experiences, we evaluate the potential for addressing gender disparities in elementary school through early care and education programs. Specifically, we explore the community-wide effects of two statewide initiatives in North Carolina on gender differences in academic…