[01] Erika Sharp, Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, USA. [02] Mingyuan Zhang, Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, USA.

This study presented a secondary analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dataset. The paper examined if a gender gap existed in the non-STEM subject of eighth-grade U.S. history. This study used a quantitative descriptive and hypothesis testing research design to analyze data extracted from the 2014 NAEP Data Explorer. The findings include (1) the average scale score of female students was significantly lower than their male counterparts, (2) the average score of female students did not start to become lower than their male counterparts until the 2001 NAEP scores, and (3) first-year students who remained full time had better student score outcomes than those that became part-time. These findings may indicate that the gender gap that exists is not purely based on intrinsic factors, but other factors such as teacher gender, and school community support may be an indication of causes of gender gaps for both male and female students.

Gender, NAEP, History Assessment, National Data, Data Mining

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