Boys behind girls in reading at every grade, Stanford analysis finds

American students are falling behind in reading and boys are doing worse than girls across nearly every district and at every tested grade, according to a new analysis from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford. The report, described in a Times article on Jan. 30, 2026, says overall reading scores are at new lows.

The analysis finds that boys score lower than girls on standardized reading tests in nearly every U.S. school district and at every grade level tested, and that the gender gap exists globally as well. On average boys are about three-quarters of a year behind girls in fourth grade and roughly a year behind in 12th grade.

The NAEP, the national report card given in Grades 4, 8 and 12, measures students’ ability to recall information from texts, think critically and make inferences. Researchers point to a mix of small biological differences and strong social influences. The article notes theories about prenatal sex hormones and that more boys are diagnosed with dyslexia and A.D.H.D., but also highlights social factors: mothers talk more to daughters, teachers have ranked girls higher even when scores were equal, and a review of studies found students believe by age 8 that girls are better at verbal skills.

"A lot of things have a biological basis but are totally malleable," said Dalton Conley of Princeton. Experts and teachers also cite attention, focus and rising screen time as contributors.

educational opportunity project, stanford, sean reardon, naep reading tests, boys reading gap, reading achievement gap, dyslexia and adhd, rising screen time, attention and focus, fourth grade gap, 12th grade gap, dalton conley, emily levasseur