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Biases in the assessments of primary school children were systematically related to the students’ gender, the Martin Luther University of Halle announced on Tuesday.

“In the area of ​​language, the abilities of girls are overestimated and those of boys are underestimated; in mathematics it is exactly the opposite,” says Melanie Olczyk of the Institute of Sociology. Teachers’ distorted judgments also had a long-term impact on the achievement gaps between girls and boys.

For the study published in the journal ‘Social Science Research’, the international research group evaluated three longitudinal studies from Germany, England and the US. In total, approximately 17,000 students were followed throughout primary school, their performance was regularly tested and parents and teachers were interviewed.

The team found that the teachers’ ratings did not fully reflect the children’s measured performance; the judgments are sometimes distorted. According to the study authors, these biases are related to the gender of the students.

The research group also noted differences between the countries studied. The distortion in mathematics is greatest in Germany, but in language it is in England. In the US the differences were much smaller.

According to the scientists, it has also been shown that the advantage of boys in mathematics and that of girls in language skills has increased during the primary school period. According to the study, the observed differences between boys and girls can be partly attributed to teachers’ distorted judgments. (sda/dpa)