Science Achievement for Girls and Boys in Grades 8 and 9
Exhibit 2.2.2a 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 science 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 science achievement between years for girls and boys. By default, countries are sorted by their overall estimated average growth (see Exhibit 2.2.1a). While the distribution of growth for boys and girls varies between countries, these distributions also exhibit some variability within each country. In Jordan and Korea, boys showed more variability in their growth than girls, as evidenced by their wider distributions in the graphical results tab. In Sweden, girls showed greater growth than boys (10 vs. 2 scale score points, respectively). However, the distributions of change for girls and boys show overlap in all three countries, providing evidence that many girls and boys grow at similar rates within their respective countries.
Exhibit 2.2.2b displays the science achievement results separately for girls and boys, as well as the difference between them, in each assessment year on the numerical results tab. The graphical results tab provides a visualization of these differences in each assessment year. It includes information about the statistical significance at the 5% error level of the difference in average achievement between girls and boys in each assessment year. In both assessment years a range of differences can be observed across countries. In Jordan, there was a statistically significant difference in achievement in favor of girls in both Grades 8 and 9. Sweden also showed a statistically significant achievement difference favoring girls in Grade 9, but there was no difference in average science achievement between girls and boys in Grade 8. Korea showed a statistically significant achievement difference favoring boys in Grade 8. Still, the same 5-point difference was not statistically significant in Grade 9 due to differences in the estimated standard errors for each of the averages.
