As per various research studies, male and female students in Texas Classrooms experience different levels of achievement in school based on the subject matter. For example, females received higher scores in reading on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test for every grade level in school year 1990-91, and for every grade level except Grade 11 in school years 1991-92 and 1992-93. For the same years, females received higher scores in writing on the TAAS for every grade level, without exception. However, on the math portion of the TAAS, females received higher scores for Grades 5 and 7, but males received higher scores for Grades 3, 9, and 11.
Male students in Texas Classrooms tend to outperform females in both areas of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). In Texas, the total SAT score for males consistently averages 50 points higher than the total score for females. Among the American College Testing (ACT) examinees in Texas, males outscore females on two of four components of the test.
Taking the SAT or ACT may be indicative of the type of institution the students of Texas Classrooms plan to attend immediately following high school graduation. Test scores narrow the list of colleges to which many students may be admitted immediately after graduation. Lower SAT and ACT test scores may discourage or prevent Hispanic and African American students from entering certain colleges immediately after graduation. These scores also represent the extent to which students can already perform college level work.