Gender and Race Achievement Profiles of Black and White Third-Grade Students

Abstract

The interrelationships between gender, race, and academic achievement levels were examined. Third-grade students (N = 107) were randomly selected from the poulation of a desegregated metropolitan school district in the deep South. The school district provided the researchers with the gender, race, and California Achievement Test (CAT) score of each student. Results showed that, although the average scores for all subjects on all CAT areas exceeded the national third-grade average, females and whites outperformed males and blacks in all 11 academic areas. The results support the Grant-Sleeter (1986) thesis that important information is neglected if race and gender are treated discretely.