Highlights on gender gap from Italian standardized assessment in mathematics

In this paper we present a study in progress on math gender-gap, based on the analysis of Italian standardized tests. The methodology explained is designed to study gender gap in Maths not only in the whole test but more deeply on specific items. The analysis of Item Characteristic Curves (ICCs) plotted both in male and female group on the basis of Rasch estimates, is useful to examine tests of various grades and also to compare similar items in different grades. In this paper we focus on primary students and we provide two examples of items analysis from grade 5 and 6 integrating statistical enquiry and didactical interpretation of students' responses, for the purpose of revealing the potentiality of this approach in studying gender differences in math.