Mathematics Achievement for Girls and Boys in Grades 4 and 5
Exhibit 1.1.2a displays the estimated percentages of girls and boys in each participating country for the TIMSS 2023 Longitudinal sample, as well as their estimated average growth in mathematics achievement between the two assessment years in fourth and fifth grades, along with corresponding standard errors (given in parentheses) on the numerical results tab. The graphical results tab shows the distribution of change in mathematics achievement between years for girls and boys. The interactive exhibit can be sorted by different criteria; by default, countries are presented in order of their overall estimated average growth (See Exhibit 1.1.1a). While the distribution of growth for boys and girls varies between countries, these distributions show considerable overlap within countries, indicating that, on average, girls and boys in all participating countries in the TIMSS 2023 Longitudinal Study grow at roughly the same rate within their respective countries. In addition, the confidence intervals of the average growth for girls and boys overlap in all cases (very often the average of one group is contained in the confidence interval of the other); a clear indication that the differences in average growth are not statistically significant.
Exhibit 1.1.2.b presents the mathematics achievement results separately for girls and boys, as well as the average differences in achievement within each of the assessment years on the numerical results tab. A visualization of these differences in each assessment year on the graphical results tab provides information about a different test of statistical significance that compares average achievement, not average growth, between girls and boys, in each of the two assessment years. In both assessment years, a range of differences can be observed across countries. In most countries and across both grades, boys showed higher average achievement than girls, with only Jordan exhibiting an advantage favoring girls, which, however, was not statistically significant at either grade.
