GENDER PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES IN

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• GENDER PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES IN
• READING AND ASSESSMENT TIMES FOR REGULAR AND
  SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS IN
• GRADE THREE

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• An Action Research StudySubmitted to Professor
  Joan SebastianByJeri D. StickneyIn partial
  fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of
  Science in Special EducationNational
  University, San Bernardino, CaliforniaJanuary
  31, 2006

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Question

• What are the effects of the SRA Reading
  Laboratory 1C for individual and remedial reading
  instruction, and what times are optimal for
  reading assessment for regular and special
  education males and females in the third grade?

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Statement of Problem

• Research indicates that public schools need to
  address gender differences in reading.
• Research indicates that male and female students
  may learn differently and need different methods
  of instruction and assessment times.
• Federal and state demands for increased
  performance on state assessments require scrutiny
  of gender (male and female) subgroups in order to
  increase test scores.

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Literature Review Summary

• Overall Gender Brain Differences
• Gender Cognition Differences
• Gender Performance Differences
• Gender Brain Hemisphere Differences
• Gender and Learning Disabilities
• Gender Instruction and Assessment Implications

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Overall Gender Brain Differences

• Hormones activate gender differentiation of brain
  development early in utero.
• Hormones appear to be organizational and
  activational in regards to gender brain
  development.
• Brain structure the same in males and females.
• Specialization of neuron output and density in
  certain areas of brain different in males and
  females.

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Gender Cognition Differences

• General intelligence similar between genders.
• Differences in specific areas.
• Male advantage of mental rotation of two or three
  dimensional objects , spatial perception tasks
  and mathematical problem solving.
• Female advantage of perceptual speed, perceptual
  accuracy, verbal fluency and certain memory
  functions.

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Gender Performance Differences

• Hormone influence is profound in gender
  performance differences
• Males
• - Testosterone in males is highest at
  approximately 800 A.M. and lowest at 800 P.M.
• - Males might do better in math and spatial
  skills in morning when testosterone is highest.
• - Males might do best on verbal and fine-motor
  skills in afternoon when testosterone is lower.

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Gender Performance Differences, Continued

• Females
• - Estrogen and progesterone levels in females
  highest at ovulation and lowest during
  menstruation.
• - During ovulation, females score higher on
  verbal performance than fine-motor coordination
  and higher on fine motor coordination than on
  math and spatial skills, and even lower on math
  and spatial skills than males.
• - During menstruation, when estrogen and
  progesterone is at lowest, females score 50 to
  100 higher on mental rotation tests.

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Gender Brain Hemisphere DifferencesGeneral
Information

• Left Hemisphere
• Receptive and Expressive Language
• - Includes speaking, reading, writing, spelling,
  naming, and
• - Comprehension of grammar, syntax and
  description that includes time, rhythm, verbal
  concept formation, analytical reasoning, and
  verbal memory.

Right Hemisphere Comprehension of language
- Superior to right in distinguishing
emotional tone, stress, pitch and melody.
- Allows for interpretation of context and
feelings of a speaker.
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Gender Brain Hemisphere Differences,
ContinuedManifestations of Gender Hemisphere
Differences
Females Corpus callosum (connects right and left
hemispheres of brain) is up to 23 thicker in
females than males. Articulateness and fluency
in language as a result. Emotions in both
hemispheres which allows for easier access and
ability to express feelings. More adept at
utilizing vocabulary. Greater auditory
perception which is centered in left
hemisphere. Better at auditory tasks

• Males
• Language specialization in the left hemisphere
  and emotional specialization in the right
  hemisphere makes more difficult to express
  emotion because thinner corpus callosum.
• Larger right hemisphere results in better visual
  perception and discrimination which is centered
  in right hemisphere.
• Adept at creating voluble vocabulary
• Better at visual tasks

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Gender and Learning Disabilities

• Higher incidence of males in special education.
• Possible Comorbid Causes
• - Prenatal abnormal testosterone influence
• - Male Trait Behavior
• - Biased psychological testing

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Gender and Learning Disabilities, Continued

• Prenatal abnormal testosterone influence.
• - Possible slow down or acceleration of
  migration of neurons from the neural crest into
  the cortex might be interrupted and cause
  disorders such as dyslexia or autism.

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Gender and Learning Disabilities, Continued

• Male behavior traits
• - Competition, aggression, self-reliance,
  self-assertion, and self-confidence.
• - Higher incidence of negative behavior as a
  result of these traits could bring learning
  disabilities to the attention of educators to an
  increased degree.

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Gender and Learning Disabilities, Continued

• Biased psychological testing
• - Common discrepancy formula for IQ different
  for males and females to predict reading from age
  or grade level.
• - Intercept bias is lower for males and higher
  for females.
• - Regressive intercept utilized for males and
  females causal for overprediction of males and
  underprediction of females.

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Gender Instruction and Assessment Implications

• Public schools appear geared to female learners
  more verbal instruction with minimum of visual
  and hands on instruction.
• Emphasis on state testing results requires
  attention of specific educational subgroups
  gender subgroups appear overlooked.

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Gender Instruction and Assessment Implications,
Continued

• Four Recommendations
• 1. Assessment development might need to be
  gender specific.
• 2. Instructors might need to examine teaching
  styles and instructional design to tailor lessons
  to each gender learning differences.
• 3. More multimodal and hands on instruction.

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Gender Instruction and Assessment Implications,
Continued

• 4. Instruction might need to be gender specific
  in single gender classrooms.
• - Reduce gender stereotypes
• - Instruction geared to male or female strengths
  and development of areas of need.
• - Reduce opposite gender pressure and
  distraction.

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Intervention

• SRA Reading Laboratory 1C was implemented for one
  trimester to one regular education classroom of
  male and female third graders.
• Records were kept of various assessments to
  compare reading progress to the SRA program
• Reading assessment was given in the morning and
  afternoon to determine optimal assessment time.

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Data Collection

• Seven sets of assessment
• - SRA
• - STAR NCR (National Curve Equivalent)
• - Houghton Mifflan Selection Tests
• - Accelerated Reader Houghton Mifflan Selection
  Tests
• - Houghton Mifflan Theme 1 and 2 tests
• - Report Card grades for Reading Comprehension
• - Brigance Form A B
• Student Survey
• Observational Field Notes

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Data Analysis, Assessment Sets/Differential Mean
Scores
SCORES SRA STAR NCR HOUGHTON MIFFLAN ACCELERATED READER THEMES 1 2 REPORT CARDS BRIGANCE A.M./P.M.
Whole Class 0.77 1.45 0.73 -4.86 -3.45 0.77 -23.63
Reg. Ed Males 0.50 2.00 -1.50 -4.00 -0.04 -2.60 -30.00
Reg. Ed. Females 1.10 2.80 2.30 -2.40 -3.9 3.00 -22.00
Sp. Ed. Males 0.50 -8.00 4.00 -21.50 -21.00 6.50 0.00
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Data Analysis, Cont. SRA/STAR Scatter Plot
Differential Scores
STUDENT SCORES SRA GAIN SRA STAYED SAME SRA REGRESSED STAR GAIN STAR STAYED SAME STAR REGRESSED
Whole Class 14 4 4 10 2 10
Reg. Ed. Males 5 2 3 4 2 4
Reg. Ed. Females 8 1 1 5 0 5
Sp. Ed. Males 1 1 0 1 0 1
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Data Analysis, Cont. Brigance Scatter Plot Score
Correlations
STUDENT SCORES GAINED STAYED THE SAME REGRESSED
Whole Class 4 2 16
Reg. Ed. Males 0 1 9
Reg. Ed. Females 2 1 7
Sp. Ed. Males 1 0 1
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Data Analysis Results

• Correlated SRA and STAR tests for gains and
  static (stayed the same) reading progression
  showed negative results .
• Correlated SRA and STAR tests for regression of
  reading progression showed positive results.
• More students gained in SRA reading progression
  as compared to regression.
• Females showed higher reading progression in the
  SRA program.
• There was a balance of students who gained or
  regressed for STAR tests.
• Most students scored better on the Brigance A.M.
  test than the Brigance P.M. test
• Special education males were balanced. One
  tested better on the A.M. test and one tested
  better on the P.M. test.
• Females scored higher overall than their males
  counterparts in all test sets.

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Teaching Practice Implications

• Males did not progress, or score as well in
  reading comprehension as their female
  counterparts.
• Closer monitoring of the SRA program with better
  assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of
  the program is needed.
• Longer SRA implementation time to study results
  over time would provide better validity and
  reliability.
• Change of instructional practice to optimize male
  reading performance is needed.

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Future Research Implications

• Male and Female brain development need to be
  intensely studied in regards to optimizing
  educational success.
• New methods of delivering and designing
  instruction need to be developed.
• Old methods need to be revised and possibly
  reimplemented or updated.
• Same gender classrooms need to be considered and
  researched.
• Frequent breaks, hands-on problem solving, and
  active movement need to be imbedded in learning.

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Summary

• This research project was designed to
  discover whether gender differences might exist
  and be of significance in reading and assessment
  times for regular and special education students
  in grade three. Research and data indicate
  significant gender differences in reading
  progress, and positive results for morning
  assessment performance for both genders.