Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago

There is general concern in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider English-speaking Caribbean about the gender differential in performance on regional and national examinations. Previous studies had shown boys not performing as well as girls. Utilizing scores from the math component of the Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP), this study investigated whether the trend was evident among the younger primary school students. The final sample comprised 1,682 students in Standard 1, Standard 2, and Standard 3 (age group 7-9 years). Total scores, Z scores, scores for students attempting all items, and composite scores for the low-level and high-level items were computed. The proportion of boys and girls in the upper (z = 1.00) and lower (z = -1.00) tails of the distribution were examined, as was the gender differential in the number of students omitting test items. Overall, girls scored higher than boys, more boys than girls omitted items, and a significantly greater proportion of boys were in the lower tail of the distribution. The Hindu schools were the exception to this general finding. The non-response to items could be addressed by schools teaching test-taking skills. However, more important may be the underlying reasons for the phenomenon, and the implications for boys' future academic achievement and employment opportunities

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Brown, Launcelot I.
Format: Article biblioteca
Language:English
Published: School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine 2005
Subjects:Academic achievement, Gender analysis, Mathematics, Primary school students, Sex differences, Trinidad and Tobago,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2139/6602
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id oai:oai:uwispace.sta.uwi.edu:2139:2139-6602
record_format koha
spelling oai:oai:uwispace.sta.uwi.edu:2139:2139-66022011-03-03T21:40:01Z Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago Brown, Launcelot I. Academic achievement Gender analysis Mathematics Primary school students Sex differences Trinidad and Tobago There is general concern in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider English-speaking Caribbean about the gender differential in performance on regional and national examinations. Previous studies had shown boys not performing as well as girls. Utilizing scores from the math component of the Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP), this study investigated whether the trend was evident among the younger primary school students. The final sample comprised 1,682 students in Standard 1, Standard 2, and Standard 3 (age group 7-9 years). Total scores, Z scores, scores for students attempting all items, and composite scores for the low-level and high-level items were computed. The proportion of boys and girls in the upper (z = 1.00) and lower (z = -1.00) tails of the distribution were examined, as was the gender differential in the number of students omitting test items. Overall, girls scored higher than boys, more boys than girls omitted items, and a significantly greater proportion of boys were in the lower tail of the distribution. The Hindu schools were the exception to this general finding. The non-response to items could be addressed by schools teaching test-taking skills. However, more important may be the underlying reasons for the phenomenon, and the implications for boys' future academic achievement and employment opportunities 2010-04-14T21:28:54Z 2010-04-14T21:28:54Z 2005 Article Brown, L. I. (2005). Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago. Caribbean Curriculum, 12, 37-56 1017-5636 http://hdl.handle.net/2139/6602 en application/pdf School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine
institution UWI TT
collection DSpace
country Trinidad y Tobago
countrycode TT
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-uwi-tt
tag biblioteca
region Caribe
libraryname UWI library system TT
language English
topic Academic achievement
Gender analysis
Mathematics
Primary school students
Sex differences
Trinidad and Tobago
Academic achievement
Gender analysis
Mathematics
Primary school students
Sex differences
Trinidad and Tobago
spellingShingle Academic achievement
Gender analysis
Mathematics
Primary school students
Sex differences
Trinidad and Tobago
Academic achievement
Gender analysis
Mathematics
Primary school students
Sex differences
Trinidad and Tobago
Brown, Launcelot I.
Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
description There is general concern in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider English-speaking Caribbean about the gender differential in performance on regional and national examinations. Previous studies had shown boys not performing as well as girls. Utilizing scores from the math component of the Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP), this study investigated whether the trend was evident among the younger primary school students. The final sample comprised 1,682 students in Standard 1, Standard 2, and Standard 3 (age group 7-9 years). Total scores, Z scores, scores for students attempting all items, and composite scores for the low-level and high-level items were computed. The proportion of boys and girls in the upper (z = 1.00) and lower (z = -1.00) tails of the distribution were examined, as was the gender differential in the number of students omitting test items. Overall, girls scored higher than boys, more boys than girls omitted items, and a significantly greater proportion of boys were in the lower tail of the distribution. The Hindu schools were the exception to this general finding. The non-response to items could be addressed by schools teaching test-taking skills. However, more important may be the underlying reasons for the phenomenon, and the implications for boys' future academic achievement and employment opportunities
format Article
topic_facet Academic achievement
Gender analysis
Mathematics
Primary school students
Sex differences
Trinidad and Tobago
author Brown, Launcelot I.
author_facet Brown, Launcelot I.
author_sort Brown, Launcelot I.
title Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
title_short Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
title_full Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
title_fullStr Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
title_full_unstemmed Gender and academic achievement in math: An examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in Trinidad and Tobago
title_sort gender and academic achievement in math: an examination of the math performance data on seven to nine year olds in trinidad and tobago
publisher School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine
publishDate 2005
url http://hdl.handle.net/2139/6602
work_keys_str_mv AT brownlaunceloti genderandacademicachievementinmathanexaminationofthemathperformancedataonseventonineyearoldsintrinidadandtobago
_version_ 1756092607250825216