An investigation of grade level and gender-based science achievement gaps in schools with different science achievement levels

Science achievement gap between fifth, sixth, and eighth grades and boys and girls in low and high performing schools were under investigation in the present study. In accordance with this purpose, three schools were selected to represent high performing schools and two schools were selected to represent low achieving schools for their performance on a nationwide exam. A total of 612 fifth, 816 sixth, and 604 eighth grade students in high achieving schools and 231 fifth, 364 sixth, and 328 eighth grade students in low achieving schools constituted the study sample. Students’ end of semester science grades were used as their science achievement measure. Results showed that students’ science achievement decreased from 5th grade to upper grades both in low and high achieving schools. In addition, they showed girls’ science achievement was higher than boys in several grade levels both in low and high achieving schools. Finally, results showed that science achievement gap between genders is more evident in high achieving schools.

Farklı fen başarı düzeylerine sahip okullarda sınıf düzeyi ve cinsiyete dayalı fen başarı farklılıklarının araştırılması

Bu çalışmada, düşük ve yüksek performans gösteren okullarda beşinci, altıncı ve sekizinci sınıfta okuyan öğrenciler ile kız ve erkek öğrenciler arasındaki fen başarı farkları incelenmiştir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda yüksek başarılı okulları temsilen Temel Eğitimden Ortaöğretime Geçiş Sınavı’nda merkez ilçede en başarılı on okul içinden üçü ve düşük başarılı okulları temsilen ise başarı sıralamasına göre son on okul içinden ikisi seçilmiştir. Çalışma örneklemini, yüksek başarılı okullarda toplam 612 beşinci, 816 altıncı ve 604 sekizinci sınıf öğrencisi; düşük başarılı okullarda ise 231 beşinci, 364 altıncı ve 328 sekizinci sınıf öğrencisi oluşturmuştur. Öğrencilerin fen bilimleri dersi dönem sonu notları fen başarı ölçütü olarak kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar öğrencilerin fen başarısının hem düşük hem de yüksek başarılı okullarda beşinci sınıftan üst sınıflara gidildikçe düştüğünü göstermiştir. Ayrıca sonuçlar, kız öğrencilerin fen başarısının hem düşük hem de yüksek başarılı okullarda çeşitli sınıf seviyelerinde erkek öğrencilerden daha yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir. Son olarak araştırmanın sonuçları, kız ve erkek öğrenciler arasındaki fen başarı farkının, yüksek başarı gösteren okullarda daha belirgin olduğunu göstermiştir.

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