In partnership with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), the Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) conducted a research study aimed at informing the state's understanding of the vulnerabilities facing both boys and girls in Utah, as well as the supports needed to address these vulnerabilities. Girls tended to have consistently higher high school graduation rates and higher proficiency rates on English Language Arts (ELA) end-of-year assessments than boys, with the ELA gender gap widening at higher grade levels. Boys tended to have higher proficiency rates in math and science. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) confirmed these patterns and showed that the gender performing worse in a particular subject in Utah (boys in reading and girls in math) performed similar to or slightly better than the national average, whereas the gender performing better in a particular subject in Utah (girls in reading and boys in math) performed better than the national average. Data from the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey showed that girls reported higher rates of “internalizing” symptoms such as depression, while boys reported higher rates of “externalizing” symptoms such as aggression. Both boys and girls in Utah face meaningful and unique academic and mental health vulnerabilities. However, the sizes of the gender gaps were small compared to the much larger disparities linked to disability status, economic disadvantage, and other student characteristics. Because of these findings, the UEPC recommends solutions with a broad, structural focus rather than those centered on gender.
