Giving Compass' Take:

• The Hechinger Report examines findings in New York City that show the brightest girls do better in STEM classes than on standardized entrance exams.

• How can we rethink our testing systems overall so that women and girls aren't left behind when it comes to STEM education?

• Here's why women in science are underrepresented in leadership roles.

In New York City, there’s a big debate over who should gain admittance to eight elite public high schools, including the well-known Stuyvesant High School and the Bronx High School of Science. Currently, Asian-American students score high enough on an entry exam to win a considerable majority of the seats. Mayor Bill de Blasio and a new school chancellor want to bring in more black and Latino students, who make up most of the city’s school population.

This tension between demographics and academic excellence is prompting scholars to take a closer look at the data on scores and grades and how well the entry exam predicts achievement. But one researcher thinks the most consistent bias might be against gender.

“They’re trying to identify the very top students but every way you slice the data, it shows bias against girls,” said Jonathan Taylor, a research analyst at the Gender Equity Project at Hunter College of the City University of New York. “I’m not saying that the exams are racist or sexist. But we’re talking about statistical bias. The argument I’m making is that the test, as a sole criteria — it’s insufficient.”

Read the full article about the problem with high-stakes testing and women in STEM by Jill Barshay at The Hechinger Report.