Date of Award

Spring 8-1-2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Robert Boyd

Second Advisor

Gregory R. Ulm

Third Advisor

Robert Perrin

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the phenomenon of girls outperforming boys in reading and writing in American public schools. Nine teachers from the suburban Chicago area were studied along with their schools to determine teacher knowledge of the phenomenon, school acknowledgement of the problem, and strategies being utilized or recommended to close the language arts performance gap between girls and boys. Six themes emerged: Schools don't typically focus on student achievement by gender; Teacher knowledge of standardized test performance by gender varies; Student empathy and tolerance is critical; Student reading and writing self-selection improves engagement; Differentiated, thematic teaching with a focus on ideas is an important strategy; and girls play the school "game" better than boys.

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