Girls Outperform Boys on Tech, 
		Engineering, Even Without Class  
		
		 
		Girls in America show more mastery in technology and engineering 
		subjects than their boy classmates, says a new report.  
		 
		The information comes from national education data released Tuesday. 
		 
		The findings were part of the National Assessment of Educational 
		Progress, or NAEP. The NAEP measures what a representative sample of 
		students across the U.S. know and can do in several subjects. It is also 
		known as “The Nation’s Report Card." 
		 
		It is only the second time in the NAEP’s 50-year history that it tested 
		students’ abilities in technology and engineering. The NAEP’s Technology 
		and Engineering Literacy test, or TEL, was first given in 2014. It asks 
		students to “solve real-world technology and engineering problems.” 
		 
		The 15,400 eighth-grade students who took the TEL test in 2018 scored an 
		average of 152 points out of a possible 300 points. In 2014, they 
		averaged 150 points. 
		 
		Girls who took the test in 2018 scored an average of five points higher 
		than boys, 155 to 150. That is a wider difference than results from the 
		2014 test showed. 
		 
		Between 2014 and 2018, the scores of girls increased from about 151 to 
		155. Boys’ scores, however, mostly stayed the same.
		 
 
		
		Yet, fewer girls take technology and engineering classes in school than 
		boys. Sixty-one percent of male students reported taking at least one 
		class like coding or robotics. Just 53 percent of female students 
		reported doing the same.  
		 
		Peggy Carr is with the National Center for Education Statistics, which 
		oversees the NAEP. It is part of the U.S. Department of Education. She 
		presented the findings on Tuesday. She described the five-point 
		difference between girls and boys as a “meaningful statement.” 
		 
		Carr said, “Although girls are outperforming boys, boys are taking at a 
		higher rate more engineering classes. They are outscoring boys whether 
		or not they take a class.” 
		 
		The TEL test measured a student’s ability to use technology and 
		engineering skills in real-life situations. It used interactive tasks to 
		learn what students know and can do. Examples include building a path 
		for bicyclists and creating a museum show. 
		 
		Girls especially outperformed boys in the areas of communication and 
		teamwork, or collaboration. 
		 
		Carr said the results demonstrate that school administrators and other 
		education leaders “need to encourage girls to take more of these 
		technology and engineering courses.” She added that boys also should be 
		given more of a chance to work on communication and collaboration 
		skills. 
		 
		NAEP presents results for groups of students with similarities such as 
		gender, race and ethnicity -- and not for individual students. 
		 
		In 2018, about 46 percent of students performed at or above the 
		so-called NAEP Proficient level on the TEL test. That is an improvement 
		from 2014, when about 43 percent of students reached the proficient 
		level. 
		 
		Most groups showed at least some improvement in 2018 compared to 2014. 
		Along with the increased scores among female students, the 2018 TEL test 
		also saw strong improvements among Asian students, students from 
		low-earning families and students whose parents did not complete high 
		school. 
		 
		However, scores for students who identified as English-language learners 
		went down in 2018 – from 108 to 106 points. Scores among Native American 
		students decreased more – from 146 to 133.  |