Just a few years ago, the United States almost eliminated the gap between middle school girls’ and boys’ performance in math and science.
Now, boys are pulling ahead again, finds a new analysis from researchers at the testing group NWEA.
Results from several national assessments show that, in some of the first large-scale tests students took after the disruptions of the pandemic, 8th grade boys have scored slightly higher in the subjects than 8th grade girls, gaining a small but growing edge.
Some of the data find that the gaps are fueled by higher-achieving boys—they outperform high-scoring girls—while among lower-scoring students, girls outpace boys.
It’s hard to know exactly what’s causing this trend, said Megan Kuhfeld, the director of growth modeling and analytics at NWEA and the lead author of the report. Reading scores didn’t show the same patterns. Girls continue to do better on national reading tests than boys, a phenomenon that long predates the pandemic.
“It’s potentially something more specific to how girls are learning in STEM fields,” Kuhfeld said.
For about the past three decades, in response to vast gender inequities in science, technology, engineering, and math professions, policymakers and advocacy groups led a campaign to get more girls involved in the subjects. Established organizations like the Girl Scouts developed STEM programming; newcomers like Girls Who Code offered school-based clubs and summer camps.
While the percentage of women working in STEM fields has increased at a faster rate over the past decade than the percentage of men, men are still more likely to hold STEM jobs than women, according to data from the National Science Foundation.
“We didn’t have this all figured out before COVID. We weren’t there. There was still work to be done,” said Karen Peterson, the chief executive officer for the National Girls Collaborative, an initiative that seeks to engage more girls in STEM.
But as these performance gaps for students reopen, funding and support for efforts to boost girls’ participation in math and science fields are dwindling.
Last month, the NSF cut more than 400 grants aimed at improving STEM teaching, targeting projects that were designed to promote diversity, equity, or inclusion.
The effect of these terminations could be “dramatic” for a population that’s already losing ground post-pandemic, said Peterson. “Why would you even consider, [or] be interested in something, if you don’t see anybody who looks like you doing it?”
Multiple metrics show similar declines for girls
To compare girls’ and boys’ performance, the NWEA researchers looked at 8th grade performance across three tests:
- The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the test known as “the nation’s report card,” given to a sample of American students periodically;
- The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, an international assessment that measures 4th and 8th graders’ achievement every four years; and
- The NWEA MAP Growth test, an interim assessment districts periodically administer to their students.
They used statistical methods to put the tests on the same scale so that they could compare findings across assessments. All three tests showed the gaps in math and science widening in favor of boys.
These findings aligned with other recent analyses. A January report from The Wall Street Journal found that girls lost ground to boys in state test results, an outcome driven by girls’ performance falling more sharply than boys’ during the pandemic.
Within the MAP Growth tests, students at different ends of the academic distribution showed different patterns.
In a sample of about 2 million 8th graders, boys at the 90th percentile in math and science outperformed girls at the 90th percentile. But at the 10th percentile, the trend reversed—those girls did better than low-performing boys.
Finally, the report’s authors also examined 8th grade Algebra 1 enrollment in a sample of 1,300 schools. Taking the course in middle school can determine what STEM pathways students are able to pursue in high school and beyond. Waiting until 9th grade to take Algebra 1 often means that students can’t get to calculus before graduation.
Before COVID, girls had a slight edge in 8th grade Algebra 1 enrollment: 26% of 8th grade girls took the course, compared to 24% of boys. But by 2022, the percentages were roughly the same—boys saw a drop and then climbed back up to 2019 levels, while girls didn’t see the same rebound.
What’s causing the widening gap?
The post-COVID school landscape could provide clues as to why this gap has emerged, experts say.
“When the education system was disrupted, our original thoughts about this were that some of the extra things teachers might have been doing, having role models come in, having days focused on careers, … those went by the wayside,” said Peterson.
Other societal changes could be at play, too, said the NWEA’s Kuhfeld.
The past few years have seen a “culture shift,” she said, in which more pundits and politicians have raised concerns about boys’ performance in school.
Boys are disciplined more often, are less likely to graduate from high school on time, and are less likely to attain postsecondary degrees than girls. Recent reporting, including a special project from Education Week, has delved into these disparities and tried to identify solutions.
Kuhfeld referenced Of Boys and Men, the 2022 book from Richard Reeves, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, which argues that there is a “complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood.”
“To me, that is kind of a tipping point of the narrative, societally, about boys struggling versus girls struggling,” Kuhfeld said.
STEM education doesn’t have to be a “zero sum game,” said Peterson of the National Girls Collaborative. “These gender-equity strategies and activities, they’re great for boys. They’re not special things we do just for girls—they’re great teaching practices and facilitation strategies,” she said.
Katie Coppens, a 6th grade science teacher in Falmouth, Maine, said that post-COVID, she’s found the most success—for girls and boys—with activities that get kids up and moving. She’s implemented “fieldwork Fridays,” a weekly trip outside to do science research in nature. “For me, the engagement is a huge part, regardless of gender,” Coppens said.
Still, she said, the NWEA report presents an opportunity for schools to “pause, reflect, and really pivot,” she said. It’s important for schools to know if they aren’t supporting girls and boys equally, she said.
The results demand a “call for action,” Peterson said. With ongoing cuts to federal programs that support girls in STEM, she said, “it will be interesting to see who takes leadership in that area.”
