Can the gender gap in reading comprehension be traced to differences in school engagement?

• Published in: Tímarit um uppeldi og menntun
• Main Authors: Jónatansdóttir, Sigrún, Stefánsson, Kristján Ketill, Gestsdóttir, Steinunn, Birgisdóttir, Freyja
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2017
• Subjects: school engagement; student engagement; achievement; reading-comprehension; gender; and adolescence; virk þátttaka í skólastarfi; skuldbinding til náms og skóla; námsárangur; lesskilningur; kyn og unglingar; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/tuuom/article/view/2688; https://doi.org/10.24270/tuuom.2017.26.5

In Iceland, the 10th-grade performance in reading comprehension has been rather stable in the past decade, after declining considerably during the period 2000 to 2006 (Menntaog menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2014; Menntamálastofnun, e.d.). According to the 2012 PISA results in Iceland, 21% of the students did not attain the baseline level of proficiency in reading. Being under baseline reading level means not being capable of understanding their textbooks, nor being able to read for their own enjoyment. It can also affect their potential for participating in modern society, which often requires good reading skills (Chhabra and McCardle, 2004). Still, the high percentage of students under baseline level is not the only concern Icelanders are facing. Girls outperform boys in reading comprehension in general in the OECD countries (PISA test), and Icelandic girls are no exception. What is unusual in Iceland is the low scores of boys in the PISA reading comprehension tests (Almar M. Halldórsson, Ragnar F. Ólafsson and Júlíus K. Björnsson, 2012; Menntamálastofnun, e.d.; OECD, 2010). In an attempt to find ways to increase reading comprehension, researchers have identified school engagement as a positive and malleable predictor of student achievement (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Guthrie, Wigfield, & You, 2012). Studies have shown that there is also a gender difference in school engagement, where girls show more school engagement than boys (King, 2016; Lam et al., 2012). In this study, the relations between school engagement and reading comprehension was examined for both boys and girls, but limited research exists on the matter (King, 2016; Lam et al., 2012). More knowledge about the connection between gender and learning outcomes is important for the design of effective interventions (Fredricks et al. 2004). The current study investigated (1) how girls and boys differ in reading comprehension and school engagement, (2) to what extent gender difference in school engagement can predict gender difference in ...