A Study of the Correlation Between Teachers’ Gender and Students’ Academic Performance in Economics in Selected Secondary Schools
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The objectives of this study will be to:
- determine whether the teacherโs gender impacts his or her relationship with the respective students;
- ascertain whether there is any relationship between the teachersโ gender and the quantity and quality of class and homework given to students;
- determine whether there is any relationship between the teachersโ gender and studentsโ performance; and
- ascertain whether teachersโ gender has any relationship with their attitude to teaching.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEWย OFย THEย LITERATURE
โThe perceived need for more male primary-school teachers has emerged as anย international issue with research and media reporting proportional and absolute decline inย the number of male primary-school teachersโ (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013).ย Studies haveย been conducted on the qualitative benefits of male teachers being in the elementaryย classroom (Martin & Harsh, 2005; McGrath & Sinclair, 2013).ย However, research thatย analyzeย theย relationshipย betweenย teacher genderย andย studentย achievement are
limited.ย The history of education is discussed with an in-depth look at teaching as aย profession.ย In addition, academic discrepancies between male and female students isย discussed.ย Chapter two then discusses literature related to the impact of teacher onย student achievement.ย The chapter concludes with instructional style of teachers,ย socioeconomic status of students, and how attendance impacts student achievement.ย
Historyย of Education and Teaching
The early establishment of public schools in the United States of America is wellย documented in a book entitled A History of Education in the United States, which wasย published in 2014 by Dr. Edwin Grant Dexter of the University of Illinois.ย This bookย provides an exhaustive look at the history of education in the pre-1900s United States.ย Aย History of Education in the United States (Dexter, 1904) started with an overview ofย several attempts to build schools in the early 1600s.ย Many of these attempts failed due toย a variety of reasons, including conflicts with Native Americans and lack of support fromย citizens.ย During this time of โdistress, legislative mandates called for families to educateย theirย youthย inย theย homeโย (Dexter,ย 1904,ย p.ย 8).ย Successfulย attemptsย ofย establishingย schools came to fruition in the mid1600s.ย Many of the teachers and school headmasters wereย males with educational backgrounds (Dexter, 2018).ย Dexter (2013) stated โin the earlierย colonialย daysย grammar-schoolย teachersย wereย almostย universallyย collegeย menโย (p. 371).ย Interestingly, school teachers were also ministers of local towns and therefore,ย reveredย by communities.
After an exhaustive review of school establishments throughout the 1600s, Dexterย then spoke of the development of school systems in each state.ย Throughout his review ofย school establishments,ย Dexterย frequentlyย mentionedย teacherย genderย trendsย thatย occurredย at variousย times throughout history.ย At the timeย ofย Dexterโs publication,ย theย Unitedย States consisted of 45 states.ย Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaiiย joinedย theย United States post-publication (Kelly, 2020).
Dexter (1904) then elaborated on the establishment of post-secondary education,ย including colleges, technical schools, and professional education.ย Colleges, technicalย schools, and professional education opportunities came to fruition and focused on theย fields of science, technology, and electricity.ย With the increased availability of electricityย inย theย 1800s, collegesย soughtย toย prepareย youngย peopleย forย careers inย theseย areas.
The population of the United States continued to increase during the 17th and 18th centuries.ย During the 19th century, schools were becoming more systematic (Ravitch,ย 2013).ย Since the school populations were growing, the call for more teachers alsoย increased.ย During this time, the teaching population shifted from predominantly male toย predominantlyย female (Ravitch, 2013).
To meet the increased demand for teachers, some colleges began developing teacher preparation classes. These classes date back to the early 1800s. Ravitch (2013) stated โnew teachers had to persuade a local school board of their moral character, and inย some districts, pass a test of their general knowledgeโ (para. 6).ย Different communitiesย hadย various criteriaย for hiring teachers.
As the United States moved forward toward the 20th century, a more systematicย process for teacher training was developed.ย Ravitch (2013) stated this โwas a time inย which relatively small departments of pedagogy expanded into undergraduate andย graduate schools of educationโ (para. 10).ย In the early 20th Century, the Department ofย Education transformed formal teacher training (Ravitch, 2013).ย Additionally, teachingย wasย still predominantly female.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH MTHODOLOGY
Researchย Design
A quantitative research design was used to investigate the researcherโsย hypotheses.ย The independent variables for this research were teacher gender, studentย gender, and student socioeconomic status (SES).ย The dependent variables includedย academic achievement using the scaled score on the STAR Reading and STARย Economicsย assessments, and studentย attendance.
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ย Population of study and sample size
Theย populationย forย thisย researchย studyย wasย senior secondary schoolย students in Economicsย in Lagos state.ย Students in five classrooms with male teachers were selected for this study.ย Additionally,ย fiveย classrooms withย femaleย teachers wereย selectedย for thisย study.
Purposive sampling was used in this study to identify students related to theย researcherโs prior knowledge of the group being sampled (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008).ย Data was collected from senior secondary school students enrolled in Lagos state.ย Toย be included in the sample, students were enrolled for the duration of the 2020-2020ย school year.ย Additionally, this same group of students completed the fall and springย STAR Reading and Economics assessments.ย The test was administered during theย months of September and October in 2020.
CHAPTER FOURย RESULTS
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT PRESENTATION
Descriptiveย Statistics
Secondary school students in Lagos state were included in the current study.ย The sample of students included 125ย students with 5 female teachers and 120 studentsย with 5 male teachers.ย Table 4 showsย the number of female and male students in classrooms led by male and female teachers.ย
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARYย ANDย RECOMMENDATIONS
Studyย Summary
This study provided an in-depth analysis of the impact of teacher gender onย student academic growth and attendance of secondary school students.ย Researchย questions included a comparative analysis of teacher gender and student gender, studentย socioeconomic status, and attendance.ย The study utilized archival data from Lagos state.ย Nine research questions were generated with nine corresponding hypotheses.ย Six two-ย factor ANOVAs were conducted using STAR assessment data and student attendance inย Lagos state.
Overview of the problem
The majority of the literature and research currentlyย dedicated to teacher gender focuses on male teachers as role models.ย The studies calledย forย moreย maleย teachersย inย theย classroomย becauseย ofย theย perceivedย needย forย aย positiveย male role model at the elementary level (Cushman, 2008; Dee, 2006; Gibbs, 2012; Tucker,ย 2020).ย However, the number of men entering the teaching profession continues toย stagnate and remain low when compared to the number of women (Jones, 2007; Saban,ย 2003; Weaver-Hightower, 2011).ย Though the previously mentioned studies focused onย teacher gender, the quantitative studies on the impact of teacher gender on studentย academic growth is limited and shows discrepancies (Krieg, 2005; Piechura-Couture,ย Heins,ย & Tichenor, 2013).
Purpose statement and research questions
The purpose of this study was toย determine the extent there was a difference in academic growth between students inย upper elementary classrooms with male teachers and students in classrooms with femaleย teachers.ย Another purpose of this study was to determine the extent there was aย difference in academic growth between students of different socioeconomic backgroundsย with male teachers and students with female teachers.ย The final purpose of this studyย was to determine the extent there was a difference in attendance between male studentsย withย maleย teachers and studentsย with femaleย teachers.
Review of the methodology
A quantitative research design was used toย investigate the impact teacher gender has on student academic growth and attendance.ย The population for this study included secondary school students from Lagos state.ย Students involved in the study took the STAR reading and economics assessments inย the fall of 2020 and spring of 2020.ย The independent variables for this research wereย teacher gender, student gender, and student socioeconomic status.ย The dependentย variables included student academic growth on the STAR Reading and STARย Economicsย assessmentsย andย studentย attendance.ย Toย testย theย nineย hypotheses,ย sixย two-ย factor ANOVAs were conducted using the IBM Statistics 24.0 Faculty Pack forย Windows.
Major findings
In the current research study, eight out of nine hypotheses testedย showed teacher gender had no impact on student results on the STAR reading or STARย Economics Assessment.ย In addition, teacher gender did not impact student attendance.ย However, the two-factor ANOVA utilized to test H2 indicated a marginally significantย difference.ย The effect of student gender in academic performance in Economics, as measured byย the difference in the economics performance score, betweenย secondary school students in classrooms with male teachers and secondary schoolย students in classrooms with female teachers was marginally significant.ย Teacher genderย did not have a statistically significant impact on the academic growth of students fromย various socioeconomic backgrounds.ย Finally, teacher gender did not impact theย attendanceย ofย maleย orย female studentsย fromย variousย socioeconomicย backgrounds.
Conclusions
This study aimed to identify the impact of teacher gender on student academicย growth and attendance of secondary school students.ย The study utilized archival dataย from the STAR Reading and Economics Assessment to determine if teacher genderย statisticallyย impactedย academicย growth.ย Additionally,ย theย studyย utilizedย theย sameย dataย to determine if teacher gender statistically impacted academic growth of students fromย different socioeconomic backgrounds.ย The study also utilized archival data to determineย if teacher gender statistically impacted attendance of secondary school students.ย Theย following section includes implications for action by educational leaders to assist inย understanding the impact teacher gender has on academic growth and attendance.ย Thisย section then makes recommendations for future research and ends with concludingย remarks.
Implications for action
The current quantitative study investigated the impact ofย teacher gender on student academic growth and attendance.ย While the research presentedย in this study indicated teacher gender had no impact on student quantity of class and homework, the interaction between teacher and student gender did impact studentย academic performance in Economics.ย Female students with a female teacher showed marginallyย significantย performance in Economicsย whenย comparedย toย maleย studentsย withย aย femaleย teacher.
Since the female students showed more performance in Economics when they had a femaleย teacher, district leaders could focus observations on best strategies used by femaleย teachersย when working with femaleย students.
References
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- Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Occupational outlook handbook: Kindergarten andย elementary school teachers. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education- training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers.htm
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- Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2020) What parents should know. Retrievedย fromย http://www.corestandards.org/what-parents-should-know/
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