Writing in Science, researchers from Berkeley and Madison conclude what readers of whyboysfail already know: Girls are the equal of boys in math:

Berkeley — Girls now equal the performance of boys on standard mathematics
assessment tests, probably because girls now match boys in the number and
level of math courses they take in elementary and high school, according to
a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and
the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

That wasn’t the case 20 years ago, when studies showed nearly identical
performance at the elementary school level but girls lagging boys at the
high school level. Since then, girls’ participation in higher level
mathematics classes has risen to the same level as boys’, with predictable
results, according to study co-author Marcia Linn, UC Berkeley professor of
education.

“In the past, there were differences in test scores, and women took fewer
advanced courses in mathematics than men,” she said. “Now that enrollment in
advanced math courses is equalized in high school, we don’t see gender
differences in performance on state tests.”

 

Actually, based on my (limited) survey of just-in 2008 state tests, they exceed boys in math, but I generally try to avoid quibbling with researchers from Berkeley and Madison who publish in Science. Here’s my last post on the “dumpster dives” into fresh test data from the states. (Oddly, Science has not solicited my dumpster dive research. Must be that my blog is too new).

What does all this mean? Probably just what the Science magazine indicates, that girls are taking the same advanced math and science classes in high school and roughly matching the boys in scores on Advanced Placement tests.

Three more interesting questions include:

– How much of the gains by the girls can be traced to the shift on math tests from calculations to word problems? Solving word problems posits math in real-world scenarios, which justifies the transition. But considering the strong advantage girls enjoy in verbal skills and the likelihood that on some of these math tests the verbal challenges outweigh the math challenges (that’s what a University of Maryland math professor discovered when examining that state’s math test), there’s a likelihood this shift may account for some of the score leveling. If so, the Science finding says as much about boys’ verbal skills as it does about girls’ math skills.

– Is it a coincidence that the 20-year phenomenon detailed in the Science happens to roughly overlay the graphic I chose to headline my blog? Cast your eyes upward to that graphic and ask yourself this: Why are girls, but not boys, reacting to marketplace realities that make post-high school study a necessity? It’s certainly not due to an explosion of blue-collar factory jobs luring boys into the workforce early. My hunch is that boys are experiencing failure early in school and giving up.

– Who will be most surprised by this finding? My guess: teachers, who have long shrugged off boys’ literacy problems by saying, “Not to worry, girls are better at reading, boys are better at math. It’s just the way things are. Boys will catch up.” That’s what they tell worried mothers of boys who ask about the lackluster school performance of their sons. My advice to the moms: A lot of those sons aren’t catching up.

 

 

 

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