Effects of gender and ethnicity on fourth graders’ knowledge states in mathematics

Abstract

This study sheds light on the achievement gap between two culturally diverse populations in Israel by employing a diagnostic model for analysing responses of a representative sample of Jewish and Arab fourth graders on a national mathematics test. The results indicated large significant differences, in favour of the Jewish group, on most attributes underlying the test, and relatively small significant gender effects only in the Jewish group, where boys outscored girls on higher-order thinking attributes. These results were discussed in light of cultural differences between the two populations, educational resources, and prevalent instruction–learning–assessment cultures in their respective schools.

Acknowledgements

The study reported in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Israeli Ministry of Education. The ideas presented, the statements made, and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Notes

¹ Adapted from 44.

² For a more detailed description and examples of coded items the reader is referred to the manual written by Tatsuoka and her colleagues 45.