The Academic Achievement Gap: Educational Leadership, Gender, and Academic Achievement
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THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT GAP: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, GENDER, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Shawn Doerfler IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTORATE OF EDUCATION Dr. Nicola Alexander, Advisor October 2016 Copyright 2016 Shawn Doerfler ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At this time I wish to acknowledge the following individuals who have made contributions to my completion of this doctoral thesis. First and foremost, I wish to thank my academic advisor, Dr. Nicola Alexander. In addition, I would like to thank all of the professors from whom I have gained the knowledge and erudition to research and write my thesis. Included among these professors are the members of the University of Minnesota staff who served on my oral preliminary committee, prospectus committee, and oral defense committee. These professors include Dr. Melissa Anderson, Dr. Cryss Brunner, Dr. Richard Krueger, and Dr. Karen Seashore, Without the help of these parties there would have been no way for me to have completed this work. Lastly, I wish to thank my wife and family for their faith in me and the loyalty they provided through the process of completing my doctoral studies. Without their love and support this study would not have been possible nor would the work have been as meaningful. The work I completed for my doctoral studies was, and always will be, for them. iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the complexity of how successful leaders perceive their role in creating a gender equitable environment, and further, how these leaders build capacity in their organizations to address gender gaps in academic performance. This study explored the perceptions of educators via interviews conducted at Jones High School and Miller High School, pseudonyms, to gain an understanding of how leaders perceived gender equity and, further, how they built capacity to achieve it. I found that the educational leaders interviewed perceived that girls performed better in classroom settings than boys as a result of their better connections to teachers and the classroom experience. Moreover, the educators interviewed perceived that girls outperformed boys because they are more prepared for academic success, have greater attention to detail, and complete tasks more consistently. Lastly, educators interviewed here revealed that girls found greater relevance in the work they were asked to complete in school. This study suggests that greater attention be paid in future research to how to establish strong connections between male students and their teachers, classroom environments, and school. The leaders of each of these high schools sought to build and maintain a gender equitable school by targeting the learning needs of all students. Programs and activities were specifically designed with the aim of affording an equitable environment for all students. In addition, the focus of future research should be on how educators can more intentionally account for the organizational factors which tend to create gaps in performance between students. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv List of Figures ix List of Tables x Chapter 1 Research Objective Purpose of Study 1 Importance of Study 2 Gender and Academic Performance Gap 2 School Leadership 3 Research on Effective School Leadership 6 Research Questions 8 Definition of Key Terms 8 Implications of Study 9 Organization of Research Study 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review Factors Influencing the Academic Gender Gap 13 Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Differences 16 Brain Development 18 Organizational Factors 20 School Socialization 21 Teacher Expertise 28 Summation of Review and Gaps in the Research 31 Chapter 3 Methods Research Design 34 Research Questions 34 Scope and Value 35 Research Method 36 Methodological Integrity 37 Trustworthiness 37 Reflexivity 38 Positionality 39 v Qualitative Inquiry 40 Case Study 43 Interviews 46 Interview Protocol 47 Documents 48 Data Analysis 49 Interview Analysis 50 Bright Spot Schools 52 Minnesota High Schools 52 Selection of Minnesota High Schools 53 Interview Participants 54 Chapter 4 Summary Findings Findings 55 Jones High School 56 Interview Question Responses 58 Question #1 59 Question #2 60 Question #3 61 Question #4 61 Question #5 63 Question #6 64 Question #7 65 Question #8 66 Question #9 67 Question #10 68 Question #11 69 Question #12 70 Question #13 71 Question #14 72 Question #15 73 Question #16 74 Question #17 75 Question #18 76 Research Question Number One 77 Student Connections to Classroom Teachers 77 Jones High School 77 Student Connections to Classroom Experience 79 Jones High School 79 Experience of School 81 Jones High School 81 Preparedness for Academic Tasks 83 Jones High School 83 Attention to Detail and Task Completion 86 vi Jones High School 86 Relevance 86 Jones High School 86 Research Question Number Two 87 Organizing for Gender Equity at Jones High School 88 Summary of Findings for Jones High School 90 Miller High School 92 Interview Question Responses 94 Question #1 95 Question #2 95 Question #3 97 Question #4 98 Question #5 98 Question #6 99 Question #7 100 Question #8 101 Question #9 102 Question #10 103 Question #11 104 Question #12 104 Question #13 105 Question #14 105 Question #15 106 Question #16 107 Question #17 108 Question #18 108 Research Question Number One 109 Student Connections to Classroom Teachers 109 Miller High School 109 Student Connections to Classroom Experience 110 Miller High School 110 Experience of School 112 Miller High School 112 Preparedness for Academic Tasks 113 Miller High School 113 Attention to Detail 114 Miller High School 114 Relevance 115 Miller High School 115 Research Question Number Two 116 Miller High School 116 Summary Findings 117 Miller High School 117 Jones Comparison to Miller 119 Positional Comparison Between Schools 120 Department Comparison 120 vii Chapter 5 Discussion 122 Leadership and Academic Achievement 122 Targeting Organizational Factors 123 Gender Gap in Academic Performance 125 Foreshadowing Findings 128 Research Questions Conclusions 132 Discussion 134 Suggestions for Future Research 137 References 141 Appendices A. Principal Interview Contact Email 168 B. Teacher Interview Contact Email 169 C. Principal Interview Consent Form 170 D. Teacher Interview Consent Form 172 E. Principal Interview Questions 174 F. Teacher Interview Questions 175 G. Bright Spot Schools 176 H. Internal Review Board - Approval Letter 178 viii List of Figures 14 1. Association of Factors Influencing the Gender Academic Achievement Gap Following an Examination of the Literature 2. Revised Conceptual Map of How Gender Equity is Perceived 136 by Educational Leaders ix 55 59 60 62 List of Tables 1. Demographics from Section/Interview Questionnaire 55 2. Jones Staff Interviews with Pseudonyms and Titles 59 3. Assessments Used at Jones High School by Respondents 60 4. Reflection of Academic Performance and Reasons Why 62 5. Reasons for Different Performance Between Boys and Girls 63 6. Differences in Working with each Gender 64 7. Factors for Academic Success Which Group Performs Better 65 8. Preparedness of Students 66 9. Learning Differences by Gender 67 10. Staff Response on How Gender Equity is Possible 69 11. Gender Equity Initiatives 72 12. Classroom Organization 73 13. Impact of Teacher Gender on Student Learning 75 14. Staff Views on Helping Other Staff 76 15. Academic Performance of Students as Perceived by Educators 85 16. Miller Staff Pseudonyms and Titles 94 17. Assessment of Academic Progress 95 18. Gender Differences in Academic Progress 96 19. Gender Differences in Academic Progress 98 20. Gender Differences in Working with Boys and Girls 99 21. Key Factors for Academic Success 100 22. What Makes Students Prepared for Academic Success 101 23. Perceptions of How Students Interact with School 103 24. Class Arrangement 107 x CHAPTER I RESEARCH OBJECTIVE Purpose of Study The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the complexity of how successful leaders perceive their role in creating a gender equitable environment, and further, how these leaders build capacity in their organizations to address gender gaps in academic performance. Here, two high schools, Jones and Miller,1 are examined to gain an enhanced knowledge of why male and female students are finding academic success in these schools. This research explores how principals and teachers perceive the experience that boys and girls have in a school setting. This study seeks to determine how these experiences of school are similar or different. The purpose of this research is to know what effective school leaders do in their practice to build the capacity for a gender equitable environment of education where both boys and girls realize a high level of academic achievement. I focus on how leaders of these schools perceive the importance of gender equity, and, in addition, how these leaders have helped to build the capacity in their organization to achieve it. 1 In order to maintain the confidentiality of respondents, I used pseudonyms rather than the actual names of the organizations or the participants. 1 Importance of Study Presently, there are concerns about the equitable performance of boys and girls in school settings. This research study seeks to examine the differing performance of males and females. As part of this research, the literature review presented in the following chapter examines the academic performance gap between boys and