Research brief

Boys regain the advantage in middle school STEM skills: Post-COVID trends in gender achievement gaps

May 2025

By: Megan Kuhfeld

Description

Building on NWEA’s previous research series examining the impacts of COVID-19 related disruptions to learning, this study investigates how boys’ and girls’ achievement levels in STEM skills were affected. It starts by analyzing five years of data from three national assessments – TIMMS, NAEP, and NWEA’s MAP Growth – to estimate trends in gender gaps in 8th grade throughout the pandemic. The study then examines a sample of MAP Growth data from two million students to determine whether gender gaps widened among low- and high-achieving students. Finally, it explores whether enrollment in 8th grade Algebra varied by gender during and after the pandemic.

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