Excellence gaps are differences in advanced education outcomes among student groups. This study replicates and extends an earlier study on the prevalence and magnitude of excellence gaps based on student sex and immigrant status using Grade 8 TIMSS data. Data were included for the 12 countries that have participated in each TIMSS administration…

Globally, the private school share of enrollment increased from about 14 percent in 2000 to about 18 percent in 2019. We estimate the systemic effect of private enrollment share on learning outcomes. Estimates of the systemic effect of private school enrollment capture any competitive effects as well as any differences between public and private…

In this study, we investigated how gender and implicit theories of mathematics and science abilities interacted to predict mathematics and science achievements in a sample of elementary (primary) school students from the United States. Study participants came from six elementary schools (Grades 2 to 5) and were a part of a larger sample that…

This quasi-experimental study evaluated the impact of the Filo tutoring program on math, ELA, and science achievement among Grades K-8 students in Jefferson County (AL) Schools (JCS). Using a student-level matched comparison design (N=1,089 treatment, 2,163 comparison), the study examined student performance on ACAP and i-Ready assessments.…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions to education, with school closures affecting over one billion children. These closures, aimed at reducing virus transmission, resulted in significant learning losses, particularly in mathematics and science. Using data from TIMSS 2023, which assesses fourth and eighth-grade achievements across 71…

The aim of this study is to determine the academic achievements of 8th graders in mathematics and science courses and STEM skill levels. The research has been carried out with the survey model. The sample of the study consists of 251 8th grade students in the 2020-2021 academic year. Math and Science academic achievement tests and STEM skill…

In the last two decades, the US has made remarkable strides in closing long-standing gender inequities in academic achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. However, new data suggest these hard-won gains may be unraveling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, girls showed substantially larger declines in math and science…

Our study is among the first to provide a comprehensive review of cross-national patterns of gender differences in various STEM-related constructs--achievement, beliefs, attitudes, aspirations, and participation, concerning country-level gender equality. We complement our review with empirical analyses utilizing rigorous methodologies and richer…

We investigated two research questions: which students are more likely to respond inconsistently to mixed-worded questionnaire scales, and which country samples have larger shares of inconsistent respondents? We defined an inconsistent response as strongly agreeing or disagreeing with both positively and negatively worded items of the same scale.…

Gender disparity in science and mathematics performance is being researched internationally. In a complex education system, like Pakistan, studying the difference in isolation may not generate holistic understanding. Therefore, this paper investigates changes in trends of performance in Science and Mathematics for both genders across public and…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant disruption in schooling worldwide. This paper uses global test score data to estimate learning losses. It models the effect of school closures on achievement by predicting the deviation of the most recent results from a linear trend using data from all rounds of the Programme for International Student…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to more fully describe the sample, methods, and results of the research brief "Boys Regain the Advantage in Middle School STEM Skills: Post-COVID Trends in Gender Achievement Gaps." The authors investigated three research questions in this brief: (1) How have 8th grade gender gaps in STEM…

Using IEA's TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2019 data, this brief examines gender differences in parental involvement with their child's education measured through participation in early home learning activities. We find that engaging children in home learning activities before entering primary school is associated…

While there is public and political consensus on the need to safeguard the physical and psychological welfare of students while at school, little is known about which South African students are at risk of exposure to bullying, or the nature and extent of bullying in primary schools. Such data is crucial in informing the development of appropriate…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in mathematics, reading and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning…