A persistent gender gap in academic performance plagues Washington-area school systems as girls race ahead of their male peers.
On reading tests, fourth- and eighth-grade girls throughout the suburbs consistently outperform boys, according to an analysis of statewide 2009 testing data. The widest gap was among eighth-grade students in Prince George’s County, where 48 percent of girls passed, compared with 39 percent of boys.
On math tests, the gaps narrow, but girls again score higher except among fourth-graders in Fairfax County, where boys lead by 3 percentage points, and eighth-graders in Arlington, where the genders perform equally well.
Pass rates on eighth-grade reading tests:
County
Girls
Boys
Montgomery
91%
84%
Prince George’s
75%
60%
Alexandria
80%
74%
Arlington
88%
84%
Fairfax
93%
92%
The academic gender gap has taken a back seat to racial disparities in recent years, but is the highlight of a report released Wednesday by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington think tank. That report, analyzing data between 2004 and 2008, shows that Virginia and Maryland fare well nationally among elementary and high school students, but struggle at the middle grades. D.C. Public Schools did not contribute data.
Middle-school girls outpace boys in both states by 4 percentage points on math tests. In reading, those girls are 10 percentage points ahead in Maryland and 3 points in Virginia. Vermont and New Hampshire have a 15-point reading gap among middle schoolers, the largest in the nation.
“Much greater attention must be paid to giving boys the reading skills they need to succeed in early grades and throughout their education,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy.
Pat O’Neill, president of the Montgomery County school board, said districts need to take a holistic approach to ensure academic success, going beyond simply recruiting girls for math classes and boys for honors English.
“Our board had a discussion about suspensions recently, and boys are disproportionately more likely to be suspended — that gap is huge,” she said. “I see it all as interrelated.”
