Mathematics Achievement for Girls and Boys in Grades 8 and 9
Exhibit 1.2.2a 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 eighth and ninth 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 exhibit can be sorted by different criteria; by default, countries are sorted by their overall estimated average growth (see Exhibit 1.2.1a). On average, girls showed more growth than boys in Sweden, and to a lesser extent in Korea; in contrast, average growth in Jordan was estimated to be the same for both girls and boys. While the distribution of growth for boys and girls varies somewhat among the three countries, these distributions exhibit considerable overlap within each country. This provides evidence that many girls and boys grow at similar rates within countries, despite the greater estimates of average growth for girls in Sweden and Korea.
Exhibit 1.2.2b presents the mathematics achievement results separately for girls and boys, as well as the difference between them, in each of the assessment years on the numerical results tab. The graphical results tab shows a visualization of these differences in each assessment year that provides information about whether the achievement difference between girls and boys is statistically significant at the 5% error level in each of the two assessment years. In both assessment years, a range of differences can be observed across countries. Still, except for boys outperforming girls in Sweden by six scale score points in eighth grade, there are no other differences flagged as statistically significant at the 5% error level. The largest observed differences in average achievement are in Jordan, where girls have an average achievement 10 scale score points higher than boys in both grades. However, these differences are not statistically significant due to the comparatively larger standard error (7.2) associated with this estimate in Jordan.
