Academic engagement and science achievement

In this study we address the question: Why do girls' greater investments in homework not result in higher science literacy scores? We first establish the degree of difference between male and female scores on teacher-assigned grades in science and on the SAEP-SCIENCE literacy test. We next examine the effects on literacy achievement of a range of beliefs and behaviours suggested in the literature as predictive of achievement in science. These include PSE aspirations and parental expectations "to do well in science", both of which may be assumed to encourage dispositions to study. We focus particularly on adolescent beliefs about the positive relationship between study effort and achievement. We also examine the effects on achievement of students' homework behaviours - their actual investments of time in doing science homework. Taking dispositions, beliefs, and behaviours into account we next examine the effects of grades on literacy test performance. We find that all these factors are positively related to science literacy but that each also increases gender differences in literacy test scores.