Mathematics achievement by gender

There was no significant difference in mean mathematics achievement between Year 5 boys (493) and girls (492) in 2006. However, the distribution of achievement was wider for boys (297) than for girls (268) as shown in Figure 8. As Figure 8 also shows, the wider distribution among boys has been consistent over the four cycles. Similarly, there was no significant difference between the mean mathematics achievement of boys and that of girls in each of the preceding cycles. It is encouraging to observe the narrowing of the distribution of mathematics achievement for both boys and girls between 1994 and 2006, with fewer lower performers in 2006 compared with 1994.

Figure 8: Trends in distributions of achievement for girls and boys from 1994 to 2006

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Benchmarks for Year 5 boys and girls

There is a statistically significant difference between the proportions of girls and boys reaching the advanced and high benchmarks. Fewer girls are reaching these top benchmarks. At the lower levels however, there is not much difference between the proportions of girls and boys reaching the intermediate and low benchmarks. Similar proportions of girls and boys did not reach the low benchmark (13% and 16% respectively). In terms of the benchmark definitions, these boys and girls who did not reach the low benchmark did not demonstrate some basic mathematical knowledge.

Table 12: Proportion of Year 5 students reaching each international benchmark by gender in TIMSS 2006/07

Gender	Percentage of Year 5 students reaching each benchmark
	Advanced	High	Intermediate	Low
Girls	4 (0.5)	24 (1.3)	61 (1.7)	87 (1.1)
Boys	6 (0.8)	28  (1.3)	60 (1.6)	84 (1.4)

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

The proportions of boys and girls reaching each of the benchmarks in 2006 were very similar to 2002 (see Caygill, Sturrock, & Chamberlain, 2007, p. 42). However, in comparison to 1994, proportionally more boys and girls reached the high, intermediate and low benchmarks in 2006. In addition, significantly more boys reached the advanced benchmark in 2006 compared with 1994. For girls, there was no significant difference between the proportions reaching the advanced benchmark in 2006 compared with 1994. Proportionally fewer girls and boys were lower achievers, that is, did not reach the low benchmark, in 2006 compared with 1994.

Achievement on the content and cognitive domains for girls and boys

While there were no overall differences in mean mathematics achievement between girls and boys, there were some distinct differences in terms of the content domains. On average, girls had higher scores in data display, while boys had higher scores in number. Boys and girls performed similarly on the geometric shapes and measures domain and over the cognitive domains.

Table 13: Year 5 mean mathematics scores on the content and cognitive domains by gender

Content domain	Mean domain score		Cognitive domain	Mean domain score
	Girls	Boys		Girls	Boys
Number	474 (2.9)	482 (3.3) ▲	Knowing	482 (2.8)	482 (3.1)
Geometric Shapes & Measures	504 (2.7)	500 (2.8)	Applying	494 (2.7)	497 (2.7)
Data Display	517 (3.1) ▲	509 (3.1)	Reasoning	503 (3.2)	503 (3.2)

Note:
▲ mean domain score significantly higher than other gender
Standard errors are presented in parentheses..

Source: Exhibit 3.3 Mullis, Martin, and Foy, 2008.