| Xiaoxia Ai
NSF
Gender differences in growth in mathematics
FINAL REPORT:
Study 1: Leaving High School with Mastery over Mathematics: A Longitudinal Analysis
This study looked at differences in students' mathematics achievement at the end of high school and in the growth pattems in the middle and high school years. The study explored various kinds of factors that might predict students' math achievement at the end of high school and their growth between the 7th and the 12th grade. Data for the study came from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth--a national study of the development of attitudes towards and competence in mathematics and science among middle and high school students. The key methodology used in the study was a 3-level longitudinal and multilevel model. Results indicated that there was a drop in mathematics achievement during the senior year of high school for the students in the sample. Among the variables the study focused on, a student's continuous progress in math courses from the 7th and the 12th grade, the types of math courses a student took at the 7th grade, and student educational expectations at the 7th grade had significant effects upon the drop in mathematics achievement in the senior year of high school, especially for those who started low on math at the 7th grade. Other factors that had significant effects upon students' mathematics achievement at the end of high school included self esteem, student behavior problems, attitudes towards mathematics, and percent class time devoted to teaching new math materials. The only school level variable that had a significant but negative effect upon students' mathematics achievement was percent minority students in a school. lmplications of these findings were discussed.
Study 2: Gender Differences in Growth in Mathematics Achievement: Three-level Longitudinal and Multilevel Analyses of Individual, Home, and School Influences.
This study focused on gender differences in growth in mathematics achievement in relation to various social-psychological factors, such as attitude toward mathematics, self esteem, parents' academic encouragement, mathematics teachers' expectations, peer influence, and so on. The study was based primarily upon the data collected by the Longitudinal Study of American Youth -- a national study of the development of attitudes toward and competence in mathematics and science among middle school and high school students and focused on students from grade 7 to grade 10. The key methodoiogy used in the study was a 3-level longitudinal and multilevel model. The analysis was first conducted separately for boys and girls who started low and high at grade 7, and then combined boys and girls in the low and high groups. Results indicated that gender differences in growth in mathematics varied by one's initial status. For those who started low, girls started higher than boys, but their growth rates were slightly lower than boys'. Although the average gender gap in growth rates was not statistically significant, the gap varied across schools. In some schools girls' growth rates were higher, while in other schools boys' growth rates were higher. For those who started high, there were no gender differences in initial status and growth rates. However, the effect of math attitude and math teacher push upon mathematics differed for boys and girls who started high. The effect of math attitude upon mathematics was stronger for boys than for girls. The effect of math teacher push upon mathematics varied across schools for boys, but no math teacher push effect was found for girls. Results also showed that home resources, individual behavior problems, and attitude towards mathematics were related to growth in mathematics. In addition, aggregated school resources had a significant effect upon growth in mathematics. The effect of math teacher push upon mathematics varied across schools for those who started low as for boys who started high. The overall conclusion was that between gender differences in mathematics from grade 7 to grade 10 were much smaller than within gender differences for the sample involved in this study.
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