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Task Force On Gender Equity In Education
Research Questions
- How do the educational experiences, achievement, and aspirations of K-12 male and female students in Maine compare?
- How do other factors (socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, geographic location, rural/urban situation, school size, and writing skills) interact with gender in influencing Maine students' educational experiences, achievements, and aspirations?
- In which instances is gender a key determining variable?
- How do findings for Maine students compare to those using a nation-wide student population?
Possible Indicators:
- Standardized achievement tests (MEA, SAT, ACT, NAEP)
- Special education status and/or alternative education participation
- Reading recovery participation
- Grade retention
- Course taking patterns
- Participation in extra-curricular activities
- Graduation rates
- Participation in school-to-work programs
- Participation in technical school programs
- Intent to attend post-secondary institution
- Intended field of study in post-secondary education
- Incarceration rates
- Suicide rates
- Rates of ADHD diagnosis/treatment with Ritalin
- Disciplinary action rates
*** Don't use GPA or grades, which are not based on uniform evaluation criteria.
*** Use data for more than 1 year for some; use trends to identify differences as "new", "ongoing" or "improved".
- How do the post-secondary plans differ for male and female students in Maine?
- How do the post-secondary enrollment, fields of study, enrollment in remedial courses, college persistence, and graduation rates for male and female students in Maine compare?
A. Are there differences based on socio-economic status, race, geographic location, school size?
- What is known about the ways in which learning styles vary by gender?
- Does the research point to any early developmental indicators that allow us to identify raised or lowered aspirations and achievement in Maine students?
- How does school climate affect the aspirations and achievement of Maine students?
- How does the gender of classroom instructors, counselors, coaches, and support staff affect the aspirations and achievement of Maine students?
- What does the research tell us about the effect of society's constructions of “masculinity” and “feminity” on the school experience of students in Maine?
- What does the research tell us about the effect of the culture of societal institutions on the educational experience of students in Maine?
- What does the research tell us about the effect of the family culture, including that of single-parent families, on the educational experience of students in Maine?
- Given the findings, what policies, programs, and instructional practices have been shown through research to promote gender equity in schools?
