Gender differences in early literacy: Boys’ response to formal instruction.

Abstract

Research consistently documents that girls outperform boys in literacy achievement, yet, when considering the starting point-early literacy-we do not have consensus on the origin, meaningful nature, or persistence of such differences. In this two-part study analyzing 5,816 Norwegian students (48.1% girls, average age of 6.1 years), we first considered the presence and meaningful nature of gender differences at school entry. Presence of differences, advantaging girls, was found in letter-recognition, phonemic awareness, word reading accuracy, and spelling. We found no differences in vocabulary performance. However, wide score distributions suggest that intragroup differences are more meaningful than intergroup differences. In our second analysis, using a longitudinal design with three time points (school entry, end of Grade 1, end of Grade 2), we calculated a general latent literacy score based on an IRT model. Multilevel analysis tested the persistence of gender differences after formal instruction. Growth curve analysis of the latent literacy score verified an advantage for girls at school entry and that boys' scores grew at a significantly higher rate than girls across Grades 1 and 2. Patterns of effect sizes complement the statistical analysis. In summary, findings indicate that girls' small initial advantage in literacy skill at school entry persists into Grade 2, but it is substantially attenuated with formal instruction. Implications include that gender differences are secondary to other sources of heterogeneity in early literacy and that gender differences in early literacy at school entry do not directly lead to boys' long-term underachievement in literacy. Future directions should examine if self-selection of activities in early childhood education may contribute to early literacy differences. Educational Impact and Implications StatementOn average, researchers agree that girls are outperforming boys on literacy achievement across grades and countries, although researchers disagree on how meaningful these differences are especially in the first few years of school. In this study we first measured over 5,000 Norwegian students at school start (about age 6) and found that girls outperformed boys in all measured skills (letter recognition, phonemic awareness, spelling, and reading accuracy) except vocabulary. However, because there was a wide range of skill in both gender groups, the differences within boys and within girls were more meaningful than the differences between the 2 gender groups. Next in our research, we followed the students' growth across the first 2 years of school and found that boys showed faster growth in reading than girls, which narrowed the gap between the two groups, although the boys did not fully catch up with the girls by the end of Grade 2. In total, we conclude that a focusing on gender is not the most logical way to address early literacy achievement, and instead researchers and teachers should focus on other, more predictive, risk factors, such as language proficiency, socioec...

Lese- og skriveferdigheter ved oppstart i 1. klasse med vekt på bokstavkunnskap

“…Sigmundsson et al (2017) fant at barn i gjennomsnitt kunne navngi faerre enn halvparten av både store og små bokstaver i det norske alfabetet ved skolestart. McTigue et al (2020) fant at de fleste elevene kunne kjenne igjen store bokstaver, men at svaert få elever var lesere ved skolestart. I begge studiene var det stor variasjon i elevene sine språkferdigheter.…”

“…Man ser at forskjellene i bokstavgjenkalling er store blant elevene i vår studie. McTigue et al (2020) finner at de fleste elevene kan kjenne igjen store bokstaver, noe som ikke helt samsvarer med vår studie. Imidlertid finner McTigue et al (2020) at det er stor variasjon i elevene sine ferdigheter når det gjelder bokstavgjenkalling, noe som samsvarer med vår studie.…”

“…McTigue et al (2020) finner at de fleste elevene kan kjenne igjen store bokstaver, noe som ikke helt samsvarer med vår studie. Imidlertid finner McTigue et al (2020) at det er stor variasjon i elevene sine ferdigheter når det gjelder bokstavgjenkalling, noe som samsvarer med vår studie. Med mulighet til å øve på alle bokstavene over en lengre periode, også gjennom lesing og skriving, kan laererne vite om elevene strever med å laere bokstavene på et tidlig tidspunkt.…”

The effect of colour on reading performance in children, measured by a sensor hub: From the perspective of gender

“…Recent research reports a larger Scan Path Length and Saccade Amplitude in female subjects [ 30 ]. Also, in tests of early reading ability Harper and Pelletier [ 31 ] found no gender differences in children’s performance. However, the study employing eye-tracing methodology revealed gender differences in reading abilities indicated by Saccade Duration, Regression Rate, and Blink Rate [ 27 ].…”

Item Wording Effects in Psychological Measures: Do Early Literacy Skills Matter?

“…Students' "performance on reading literacy tasks upon entering primary school" and "years of attending preschool" did not have significant effects on the item wording effects. This result may be due to the students' grade level, as longitudinal studies (e.g., McTigue et al, 2020;Roth, Speece, & Cooper, 2002) indicate that performance differences in early literacy may diminish or the strength of the relationship between achievement and early literacy may decline over the years, due to other sources for variation (e.g., teachers, education quality, and school). This result can additionally be supported by evidence indicating that younger respondents tend to have more problems interpreting the negative expression of a statement (Marsh, 1996;Michaelides, 2019;Weems et al, 2003Weems et al, , 2006.…”