Continued: Who's better at math? Subtract gender

When it comes to math scores, high school girls are measuring up, reports a national study challenging the persistent notion that boys are naturally better with numbers.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison study released Thursday in the journal Science reported that, overall, U.S. girls and boys got equal math scores, from second through 11th grades. The results of the study, the largest of its kind, represented marked improvement over a 1990 study showing measurable differences in complex problem-solving, starting in high school.

Minnesota girls, however, still have room to grow: A small gap remains in 11th-grade math scores, the only math test that Minnesota gives to high school boys and girls.

In elementary and middle schools here and around the country, that difference has mostly closed since at least 1990.

The gap's persistence at Minnesota high schools surprises neither educators nor kids.

In middle school, "girls aren't supposed to show their real potential and how smart they are," said Karlie Chase, a seventh-grader at Shakopee Middle School who attended a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) camp at Normandale Community College on Thursday. "They're worried they won't have friends," added Rebecca Kickert, a ninth-grader at Shakopee Junior High.

In Minnesota, math scores in fourth and eighth grades have been roughly equal for boys and girls since at least 1990, according to national data from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2007, 88 percent of fourth-grade boys were at or above the basic math achievement level, compared with 87 percent of fourth-grade girls. In eighth grade, 81 percent of girls and boys were at or above the basic achievement level.

Girls lag in state proficiency

But in the most recent state data available for 11th-graders, the 2008 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment-II, 35.7 percent of boys were proficient on the math portion of the test, while 32.9 percent of girls were.

"The biggest thing that schools can do is just try to encourage girls to take as much math as they can in high school," said Tom Muchlinski, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics. "It helps in terms of keeping your options open, and providing for more opportunities, whether it be post-secondary study or employment."

Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study.

Although the notion is hotly disputed by many -- Lawrence Summers, then the president of Harvard, was castigated in 2005 when he questioned the "intrinsic aptitude" of women for top-level math and science -- girls who grow up believing it wind up avoiding harder math classes.

"It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology," Hyde told the Associated Press.

That's slowly changing.

Women are now earning 48 percent of undergraduate college degrees in math; they still lag far behind in physics and engineering.

But in primary and secondary school nationwide, girls have caught up to boy's math scores, with researchers attributing that advance to increasing numbers of girls doing exactly what Muchlinski recommends: taking advanced math classes such as calculus.

Camp lets girls enjoy math

At the Normandale STEM camp, which focused on biomedical technology, Vice President for Academic Affairs Julie Guelich encouraged the girls to "take all the math and science courses you can."

The girls were given "STEM GirlZZ Rock" tote bags, complete with lip gloss inside, and they got to participate in hands-on learning experiences, such as watching their heartbeats on EKG machines and trying to make ethanol.

At lunch, a group of girls said they enjoyed being able to be excited about what they were learning, without having to look over their shoulders.

"Here, you're not pressured by other girls who would be mean about it," said Allison Koch, a ninth-grader at Shakopee Junior High.

To Hyde and her colleagues, the fact that girls consistently score lower on average on the SAT and ACT can be partially explained by the fact that while there are fewer women in science and technology fields, there are more women applying to college: The highest-performing students of both genders take the test, but more girls lower on the achievement scale take it, skewing the average.

On the ACT, the gender gap disappeared in Colorado and Illinois once state officials required all students to take it.

Educators encourage caution while examining Minnesota's 11th-grade math scores, considering the dismal overall performance, with only 34 percent of students statewide passing.

And they're encouraged by the fact that younger boys and girls have long been performing equally.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Emily Johns • 952-882-9056