The International Reading Association weighs in on the international testing released yesterday, including the reading gender gaps.
Female students outperformed males in all participating countries, though the size of the difference varied across countries, with the smallest gap found in Colombia and the largest in Albania. "This disparity in reading literacy achievement in favor of females continues a near decade-long pattern established in PISA 2000 and observed consistently in other international reading studies," notes William Brozo (USA), who chairs the International Reading Association (IRA) PISA/PIRLS Task Force, which is charged with interpreting the outcomes of international studies of reading literacy and their relevance for teaching and policy.
Brozo, btw, knows a little something about the topic. He’s the author of To be a boy, to be a Reader, and Bright Beginnings for Boys. When writing Why Boys Fail I leaned on both Brozo and Bright Beginnings.
Data buffs will find the full report here.