--- title: Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test description: Eighth-grade girls outscored boys in technology and engineering skills during the first such national test administered by the government canonical: https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/ author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-17T16:29:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:36:21.385Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test og:description: Eighth-grade girls outscored boys in technology and engineering skills during the first such national test administered by the government og:url: https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test twitter:description: Eighth-grade girls outscored boys in technology and engineering skills during the first such national test administered by the government twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John May 17, 2016 4:29 PM CUT by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John May 17, 2016 4:29 PM CUT Eighth-grade girls outscored boys in technology and engineering skills during the first such national test administered by the U.S. [federal government](http://time.com/4091496/4th-grade-math-quiz/ "undefined") in 2014, according to results released on Tuesday. The [National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam results](http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/tel%5F2014/#results/overall "undefined") show that 45% of girls and 42% of boys scored at the proficient level or above. Overall, 43% of eighth-grade students in both public and private schools scored proficient or above. The results showed racial gaps, with just 18% of black students and 28% of Hispanic students achieving proficient or better scores, compared to 56% of Asian and white students. English language learners also struggled with the assessment, with only 5% scoring proficient or above. The computer-based test, called the Technology & Engineering Literacy (TEL), was designed to measure students’ ability to understand technological principles, their collaboration skills, and their ability to solve technology and engineering-related problems. It was administered to more than 21,000 students in more than 800 schools nationwide. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/"},"headline":"Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test","datePublished":"2016-05-17T16:29:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:36:21.385Z","description":"Overall, 45% of girls compared to 42% of boys scored proficient or above","url":"https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/","keywords":["Education"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4338723/girls-outperform-boys-test-technology-engineering-skills/","name":"Girls Outperform Boys on Technology and Engineering Test"}}]}] ```