z45\doc\web\2000\08\testgap.txt Griffe: The Department of Education has an agenda that includes making gender, race and ethnic gaps disappear. It is no mean trick because the gaps are both significant and persistent. To someone familiar with the gender math gap, its disappearance is a like a MAN BITES DOG headline. With the help of gullible reporters the Department has performed the disappearing act by omitting in its its 149 page report any reference to the *distribution* of math scores by gender. The relevant data are, however, available elsewhere at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/tables/LTT1999/NTM31017.SHTML. Here are the percentages of male and female 17-yr-olds with "scale scores" at or above the 350 level (multi-step problem solving), for 1994, 1996 and 1999, respectively. 1994: Male = 9%; Female = 6% 1996: Male = 9%; Female = 5% 1999: Male = 10%; Female = 7% With a few mild assumptions it is possible from these percentages to estimate male/female mean differences. Here they are: 1994: 0.2 SD 1996: 0.3 SD 1999: 0.2 SD As you see, the differences are not terribly out of line with SAT results. Ken Hirsch wrote: Vince Sarich wrote: > > < 17-year-olds on national tests has disappeared, according to a federal > report released Thursday on trends in the academic performance of > schoolchildren over the past 30 years. I don't know about this. The SAT Math shows about 1/3 std dev difference between males and females. This test shows an insignificant difference. La Griffe du Lion http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! How to contribute to H-Bd: 1. To reply privately to just the sender of this message, click the "Reply" button on your email package. 2. To reply publicly to the entire H-Bd list, click the "Reply All" (or equivalent) button on your email package. 3. To start a thread, email your message to h-bd@egroups.com . To unsubscribe, send a blank email to h-bd-unsubscribe@egroups.com Vince Sarich wrote: > Last week: > > < through the 1980's widened from 1990 to 1999, according to results > released yesterday by the federal Department of Education, with the > average black 17-year-old reading only about as well as the average white > 13-year-old.>> > > This week: > > < white children, with the reading scores of black 17-year-olds about two > grade-levels behind those of white students.>> > > So which is it? 2 years? 4 years? It's 4 years. Since Hispanics are intermediate between whites and blacks, the 2-year figure might have originally referred to them. Average reading scores Age White Black Hispanic 17 294.6 263.9 270.7 13 266.7 238.2 243.8 9 221.0 185.5 193.0 Average math scores Age White Black Hispanic 17 314.8 283.3 292.7 13 283.1 251.0 259.2 9 238.8 210.9 212.9 You can download the report from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2000469