Many countries remain far from achieving gender equality in the classroom. Using data from 126 countries between 1960 to 2010, we document four facts related to education gender gaps.

Previous efforts to synthesize evidence on how to improve educational outcomes for girls have tended to focus on interventions that are principally targeted to girls, such as girls’ latrines or girls’ scholarships. But if general, non-targeted interventions—those that benefit both girls and boys—sig...