Female 8th graders outperform males at engineering and technology literacy
Eighth grade girls outperform boys at technology and engineering literacy (TEL), according to results of a 2014 study released yesterday by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). What’s called “The Nation’s Report Card” put the overall TEL score for girls at 151.41, vs. 148.65 for boys. Girls outperformed boys in all categories measured but did particularly well in “Information and Communication Technology” and “Communicating and Collaborating.” Boys came closest in “Design and Systems.”
In other results, students eligible for the National School Lunch Program fared poorly, as did English language learners and students with disabilities. Scoring particularly high were children of college graduates and students who attend suburban private schools. White and Asian students outperformed students of other ethnicities.
In addition, 87% of students reported figuring out why something was not working in order to fix it outside of school work and 50% reported using a computer in school to create, edit, or organize digital media at least once a month.
Some students learn about engineering and technology in dedicated classes, with 19% of eighth graders having taken an engineering class and 12% having taken a class in industrial technology; 48% report having taken no engineering-related classes.
When asked who taught them most about building things, fixing things, or how things work, 63% cited family members; only 13% cited teachers.
