Boys outperform girls in math, girls outperform boys in ELA — even by 5th grade
The question
How big is the gender gap in fifth-grade test scores across New York City — and does it vary by borough?
Fifth-grade girls in New York City schools outperform boys on the reading test by an average of 4 percentage points within the same school. Boys outperform girls on the math test by an average of 3 percentage points within the same school. The direction holds in every borough. Manhattan has the smallest gender gaps in both subjects. The pattern matches what the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress finds nationally — nothing distinctive — but the borough-by-borough variation is worth a closer look, especially for any reporting on single-sex schools (TYWLS, Eagle Academy, Hebrew Tech, Boys Latin).
Data analysis
Investigation run 2026-05-25.
TL;DR
Fifth-grade girls in New York City outperform boys on reading by an average of 4 percentage points within the same school. Boys outperform girls on math by an average of 3 percentage points. The direction holds in every borough. Manhattan has the smallest gender gaps in both subjects. The pattern matches the national gap on the federal NAEP test — nothing distinctive about New York City — but the borough-to-borough variation is interesting.
Within-school gender gap on grade-5 English Language Arts
Female students outperform male students on grade-5 ELA in every borough. Manhattan has the narrowest gap.
Within-school gender gap on grade-5 math
Male students outperform female students on grade-5 math in every borough. Manhattan again has the narrowest gap.
Manhattan's smaller gaps
Manhattan's gender gaps are smaller in both subjects. Candidate explanations: (a) more single-sex schools and G&T programs that select for students whose subject preferences depart from gender-typical patterns; (b) more families investing in supplemental math instruction for daughters; (c) more elementary schools with explicit anti-stereotype curricula. Disentangling these would require a borough-by-borough qualitative look.
Compare with national patterns
NAEP shows ~5-point female advantage on reading, ~3-point male advantage on math at age 9 nationally. NYC numbers track. The pattern is normal; whether NYC schools can move below national typical is the open question.
What's next
Worth a piece on single-sex schools (TYWLS, Eagle Academy network, Hebrew Tech, Boys Latin). Do their students' subject outcomes amplify or narrow the typical gender pattern within their own gender?
Methodology & replication recipe — the data sources, queries, and steps behind this analysis.