Grade 5 Mathematics and Science Achievement Differences by Student Gender and Ethnicity/Race: A Multiyear, Statewide Study.
Analyzed in this study were the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Mathematics and Science raw scores for Grade 5 students to determine the degree to which gender and ethnic/racial (i.e., Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White) differences were present. Four school years (i.e., 2011-2012 through 2014-2015) of statewide data were analyzed. For all tests, statistically significant differences were present by gender and by ethnicity/race. Trivial effect sizes were present between boys and girls for each analysis. However, medium effect sizes were revealed with regard to the raw score differences by ethnicity/race for the four years analyzed. Every year, Asian students had the highest average test score, followed by White, Hispanic, and Black students, respectively. A stair-step achievement gap (Carpenter, Ramirez, & Seven, 2006) was present in each school year analyzed.
