U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

NCES 2016164 JULY 2016

 Student Self-Assessment 

of Math and Science Ability 

in High School

The High School Longitudinal Survey (HSLS:09) is a nationally-representative, longitudinal study of over 23,000 9th graders from 944 schools in 

2009. This study follows students throughout secondary and postsecondary years collecting data on student trajectories, major fields of study, 

career paths, and STEM interest. The study’s Base Year was 2009 and the First Follow-up was conducted in 2012, when most of the cohort were 

11th graders. The study included student self-assessment of confidence in math and science and information indicating self and others’ assessment of math abilities.

How did student 

confidence in ability to do 

math and science assignments change during high 

school? 

Students were asked how confident 

they felt that they could “do an 

“excellent job on assignments” in their 

math and science courses in 2009 

and again in 2012.1 Results will be 

presented by sex.

 The percentage of male students who 

were confident they could “do an excellent job on assignments” in math was 

75.3 percent in 2009 and 77.3 percent 

in 2012 (not statistically different once 

sampling error is accounted for). The 

percentage of students who were 

confident in their abilities on science 

assignments increased from 65.1 

percent in 2009 to 76.9 percent in 

2012. (Figure 1).

 While the percentage of female 

students who were confident they 

could “do an excellent job on 

assignments” in math decreased 

from 73.9 percent in 2009 to 71.0 

percent in 2012, the percentage of 

those who were confident that 

they could do an excellent job on 

science assignments increased 

from 67.1 percent in 2009 to 72.0 

percent in 2012 (Figure 1). 

 The increase in percentage of 

those confident they could do an 

excellent job on science assignments was larger for males than 

females, and a higher percentage of males than females were 

confident in their abilities in 

2012. (Figure 1). 

FIGURE 1. Percentage of students who are confident in their ability to do an 

excellent job on math and science assignments, by sex: 2009 and 2012 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2009 2012 2009 2012

Percent of 

Students

Math

Science

Male Female

75

65

77 77 74

67

71 72

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. High 

School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) First Follow-up Public-Use Data File (NCES 2014-358). 

Data in this report are from the HSLS: 2009, a nationally representative sample survey. 

To learn more, visit http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/hsls09/. For questions about content or to 

view this report online, go to http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016164.
More about Student Self-Assessment of Math and Science Ability in High School

How did students’ 

self-assessments of 

their own math abilities and perceptions of 

how others assessed 

their math abilities 

change during high 

school? 

Students were asked if they 

considered themselves a “math 

person” when they started 9th 

grade in 2009 and again at the 

end of the 2011-12 school 

year. Students were also 

asked if they thought others 

considered them a “math person.”

2

 The percentage of male 

students who considered 

themselves to be a “math 

person” decreased from 

56.1 percent in 2009 to 47.8 

percent in 2012 (Figure 2).

 The percentage of male 

students who thought others 

considered them to be a 

“math person” also decreased (53.5 percent in 

2009 to 48.8 percent in 

2012) (Figure 2).

 The percentage of female students who considered themselves to be a “math 

person” decreased from 48.1 percent in 2009 to 39.3 percent in 2012 (Figure 2).

 The percentage of female students who thought others considered them to be a 

“math person,” decreased from 52.2 percent in 2009 to 44.0 percent in 2012 

(Figure 2).

FIGURE 2. Percentage of students who see themselves as or think others 

see them as a “math person,” by sex: 2009 and 2012 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2009 2012 2009 2012

Percent of 

Students

Students

would say

yes

Others

would say

yes

 Male Female

56

54

48 49 48

52

39

44

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. High School 

Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) First Follow-up Public-Use Data File (NCES 2014-358). 

Endnotes 

1 Information on male students’ math confidence was derived by combining percentages of male students who answered “strongly agree” and 

those who answered “agree” that they were “confident they could perform with excellence on a math assignment.” The same process was used 

to derive male student confidence in science, and for female students’ confidence in their math and science abilities. 

2 Information on the percentage of students who see themselves as or think others see them as a “math person” was derived by combining percentages of students who answered “strongly agree” and who answered “agree” that they were a “math person.” The same process was used to 

derive “others would say yes.” 

This NCES Data Point presents information of education topics of current 

interest. It was authored by Rachel Hanebutt and Elise Christopher of NCES. 

Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling variability, and apparent 

differences may not be statistically significant. All stated differences are 

statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data 

processing of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts 

are made to minimize effects of non-sampling errors, such as item response, 

measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.