Report examines research on the gender gap in reading, Common Core, and student engagement
 

The Brown Center has released  a new report, How Well Are American Students Learning?, describing the results of three educational research studies.
 

The first study examines the gender gap in reading. Historically, boys have scored lower than girls on standardized reading tests, and the gap widens in middle and high school. This trend is seen around the world, even in countries scoring top marks on the PISA's reading subtests. The authors debunk several popular explanations for the gap, most notably the theory that females are biologically better at reading. NAEP reading scores at age nine now demonstrate a gap that is less than half of what it was forty years ago, outpacing the changes of biology. The authors also note that the reading gap disappears in adulthood and that after age 35, men score significantly higher on reading measures than women. The authors comment that the effects of life cycle experiences on reading proficiency need to be examined.
 

The second study discusses the early effects of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It looked at NAEP scores from 2009-13 and CCSS implementation data from 2011 and 2013. Of the 50 states, 4 did not adopt CCSS, and they are used as the control group. Of the adopting states, 12 are considered strong CCSS implementers. Scores of the 12 CCSS strong implementers were compared to scores of the non-adopters and findings showed small, non-significant effects in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math in states with strong CCSS implementation. Specifically, the gains amounted to a 0.04 standard deviation on the NAEP scale. The smallest size for a score change to be noticeable is 0.20 SD-five times larger. The authors discuss the difficulty of evaluating CCSS.
 

The final study looks at the effects of intrinsic motivation on math in 15-year-olds. Surprisingly, results showed a negative correlation between engagement level and math achievement-in other words, higher engagement levels yielded lower test scores. Compared to their international peers, American 15-year-olds scored at average engagement levels. Countries who scored higher in PISA scores (Japan, Finland, Korea) reported lower engagement levels for math. 

Johns Hopkins University 

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