Gender Equity in Education Commons^™

“We Talked About Straight People Sex”: The Health Education Experiences Of Queer And Trans Youth In Utah, Sonny Partola

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This article explores how Utah’s health education curriculum shapes the experiences of queer and trans youth. Drawing on critical ethnography conducted at an urban public high school, the study foregrounds the voices of six queer and trans students. Findings reveal that abstinence-focused and heteronormative curricula render these youth invisible, exclude critical information on queer, trans, and intersex health, and compromise students’ well-being. Participants described feelings of discomfort, irrelevance, and pressure to act as informal educators for peers. Their accounts highlight the urgent need for queerly responsive health education that affirms diverse identities, normalizes inclusion, and provides accurate, relevant information. Such …

(In)Consequential Rhetoric: Grading Policy And Values Misalignment At First-Generation-Serving Community Colleges, Sarah N. Seiffert

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Research indicates that first-generation (FG) students face a number of barriers to success in higher education when compared to their continuing-generation peers. Although many institutions serving a large number of FG students have implemented programs to support this population, little attention has been paid to institutional grading policies that reinforce harmful practices by attempting to standardize assessment while perpetuating inequalities. This study uses document analysis and critical policy analysis to examine the alignment between the grading policies and institutional values of 25 community colleges serving high FG student populations. Findings reveal critical tensions between the stated values of these colleges …

Differences Between African American And White Males In Grades 6-8: Comparative Evidence From Selected Texas Rural Schools, Sheenah Maria Hopkins-Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The academic achievement gap among Black males in grades 6-8 across Texas is a growing concern. Based on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), secondary data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) was used to evaluate scores from a sample of Texas rural schools. In this quantitative, non-experimental methods study, the dependent variable examined was the STAAR reading score at the “meets grade level,” and the independent dichotomous variables examined were: race, whether or not the student was classified in one of the following groups: ECD, at-risk, and special education. Academic trends from the 2017-2019 academic school …

Gender Differences At The Highest Levels Of Mathematics Achievement: A Texas Based Study, Susanna Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to determine if gender differences exist in the top quartile of mathematics achievement in Texas as measured by STAAR. Performance data for 6,358,500 Texas students on the mathematics STAAR in grades 3-6 for the years 2016-2019 were examined in this quantitative study. The percentage of male and female students scoring in three different score bands, the 75^th-89^th percentile, the 90^th-95^th percentile, and the 95^th-100^th percentile, were presented. The Chi-square was utilized to determine if any difference in the percentage of male and …

The Academic Success And Beyond-Academic Wellbeing Of High Functioning Autistic Boys: A Policy-Professional Care-School-Parent Ecological Perspective, Evelyn Sauceda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High Functioning Autistic (HFA) boys have significant social, emotional, and cognitive difficulties and unique cognitive abilities that require special support from stakeholders in their ecology (policy makers, care providers, schools, and parents). The quality of such support and its ecological integration are of poor quality. The purpose of this study was to report on the perceptions of parents of HFA boys about their children’s academic and beyond-academic experiences as understood within a policy-care provider-school-parent ecological framework. This study contributes to the limited ecological literature on the topic. This exploratory, qualitative, phenomenological, non-experimental, and cross-sectional research study used a non-probability, purposive, …

Determination Differences Between Men And Women In Mathematics, Lacy Cook

Undergraduate Research Conference

We analyzed data collected from 35 Tyler Junior College Students collected over three testing sessions. Students were asked to take a five-question math test. The test included four questions from the American High School Math Examination, where the problems are designed to be solvable for students without any upper level (calculus) mathematics background as well as one randomly generated question. Students were asked to take as much time as they needed, but no longer than one hour to complete the test. We used the amount of time spent on the test to measure the students' level of determination. The goal …

Relationship Between Student Academic Achievement And Gender Of Campus Administrator, Pam Winn, Susan Erwin, Jim Gentry, Mary Cauble

School Leadership Review

Studies of the effectiveness of women’s leadership have been recommended by researchers for over three decades (e.g. Eckman, 2004; Edson, 1988; Schmuck, 1981; Shakeshaft, 1989). Burke & Nelson (2002) and Smulyan (2000) have suggested that a woman’s leadership experience is fundamentally influenced by gender. As greater numbers of women fill educational administration positions previously held by men (Addi-Raccah, 2006; Rusch & Marshall, 2006), opportunities to study leadership differences and effectiveness of men and women in meeting unique demands of their campuses can be measured. Although issues related to women leaders in superintendent positions have been explored (Tallerico, 1999; Brunner, 1999; …

Heteronormativity In Kindergarten Classrooms, Megan Martsolf

Undergraduate Research Conference

Heteronormativity is the belief that people fall into distinct and complementary genders with natural roles in life. The idea is that the culture within elementary schools influences the children’s academic, behavioral, and psychological well-being. During this period of a child’s life, heteronormativity develops. The purpose of this research is to gain a greater understanding of the prevalence of heteronormativity in elementary school classrooms, specifically kindergarten. To understand this process, I will systematically observe classrooms within kindergarten. The methodological approach of this research will include both qualitative and quantitative analysis, specifically interviews with teachers and content analysis of the classroom environment. …

How, When, And Why Early Childhood Educators Address Gender With Young Children?, Flora Farago, Brittany Propoggio

Symposium on Arts and Research

Children develop gender stereotypes between ages 2-5 (Martin & Ruble, 2010). Early childhood classrooms are one of the first settings where children receive messages about gender, partly from teachers (Chapman, 2016; Chick, 2002).

Teachers’ use of gender labels and gender to organize classrooms increases children’s gender stereotyping and decreases preference for other-gender peers (Hilliard & Liben, 2010).

However, work is largely missing about early childhood educators’ “gendered” beliefs and classroom practices. These topics are examined using an online survey.