Effective Teaching, Student Engagement in Classroom Activities, and Sex-Related Differences in Learning Mathematics

Abstract

This research identified the classroom activities that were related to the low level and high level mathematics achievement of boys and girls. In December and in May, students in 36 fourth grade mathematics classes completed a mathematics test containing low level and high level items from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. During January through April, the engagement/nonengagement in mathematics activities was observed for six randomly selected students of each sex in each class. Results showed that girls and boys did not differ significantly in either mathematics achievement or in observed engagement/nonengagement in mathematics activities. However, engagement in the following four types of activities was consistently and differentially related to girls’ versus boys’ low level and high level mathematics achievement: competitive mathematics activities, cooperative mathematics activities, social activities, and off-task behavior.