The gender gap and discriminating power in the National Curriculum Key Stage three science assessments in England and Wales

Data from a large sample of year 9 (13-14 years) students taking the national Key Stage 3 science tests in England and Wales were used to explore gender differences in science achievement. The most pronounced gender differences, which were in favour of males, were found in the higher level papers ta...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of science education 1999, Vol.21 (9), p.979-987
Main Authors: Preece, Peter F. W, Skinner, Nigel C, Riall, Robin A. H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement
Educational research
Educational sciences
England
Foreign Countries
Grade 9
Methodology
Mädchen
National Competency Tests
Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht
Science Achievement
Science Education
Secondary Education
Sex Differences
Surveys, interviews
Test Bias
Test Items
Wales
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Data from a large sample of year 9 (13-14 years) students taking the national Key Stage 3 science tests in England and Wales were used to explore gender differences in science achievement. The most pronounced gender differences, which were in favour of males, were found in the higher level papers taken by more able students, with the largest gender gaps occurring in physics questions. Using separate male and female discrmination indices, it was found that the more discriminating questions tended to exhibit larger gender gaps in favour of males.
ISSN:0950-0693
1464-5289
DOI:10.1080/095006999290264