Are Boys Making the Grade? Gender Gaps in Achievement and Attainment

October 2006

Report Abstract
A new study by the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy finds that Massachusetts boys are lagging behind girls in educational achievement and attainment. The policy brief, Are Boys Making the Grade? Gender Gaps in Achievement and Attainment, will be released at a public event on October 3, 2006 at the Bank of America Auditorium. The brief examines gender differences on a number of indicators including performance on the MCAS in math and English language arts (ELA), dropout rates, and placement in special education. Girls matched or surpassed boys’ achievement at all grade levels in both math and ELA. A further analysis of high school enrollment patterns showed that boys, specifically Black and Hispanic boys, are most in danger of falling through the cracks in the education system.

Paul Reville, Rennie Center President, explains, “The popular media have recently produced a number of sensational stories pitting boys against girls. We wanted to determine whether the trends were real in Massachusetts. We learned that the advantage girls have in Massachusetts schools is even more dramatic than national figures suggest.”

While data from national exams show that boys continue to hold a slight edge over girls in math, girls’ achievement on the math MCAS equals, and in some cases, exceeds boys’. For example, on the grade four math MCAS, girls were more likely than boys to demonstrate mastery by scoring in the top two categories — advanced and proficient. On the tenth grade math MCAS, which students need to pass in order to graduate, boys are more likely to fail than girls.

Boys drop out of high school at significantly higher rates than girls. And they are almost twice as likely to be assigned to a special education classroom.

The study presented individual snapshots of the ten largest urban areas in Massachusetts, but determined that gender gaps prevail in schools statewide.

Because prior research has made clear that gaps also exist between racial sub-groups of students, the study examined the intersection of race and gender in high school enrollment patterns. This analysis clarified that, between ninth and twelfth grades, the enrollment of Black and Hispanic boys declines at a much steeper rate than their White male, Asian male or female peers.  

Recommendations
The policy brief concluded with a series of recommendations designed to ensure that boys and girls both receive equitable educational opportunities. They included:

• Permit experimentation with single sex education on a small scale, such as in after school enrichment programs;
• Incorporate information about gender differences in cognitive development into teacher training; and
• Pay particular attention to Black and Hispanic boys in mentoring, dropout prevention and MCAS remediation efforts.

“This represents an important starting point in the research. Much more needs to be done to examine trends over time and the joint effects of race and gender on achievement. Legislators and educators must now focus on the implications of this data for policy and practice,” concluded Reville.

See the October 2nd Boston Globe editorial highlighting this report, Boy Trouble.  


About the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy
The Rennie Center's mission is to develop a public agenda that informs and promotes significant improvement of public education in Massachusetts. Our work is motivated by a vision of an education system that creates the opportunity to educate every child to be successful in life, citizenship, employment and life-long learning. Applying nonpartisan, independent research, and civic engagement, the Center is creating a civil space to foster thoughtful public discourse to inform and shape effective policy. For more information, visit us at www.renniecenter.org.