Gender Performance Diffczcnces on the Alberta Social Snidies 30

271 Pages·1998·11.88 MB·English

The Univenity of Calgary
Gender Performance Diffczcnces on the Alberta
Social Snidies 30 Provincial Diplorna Exmidon
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITïED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
IN PART'XAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR TEE
DEGREE OF DûCTOR OF EDUCATION
GRADUATE DIVISION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
CALGARY, ALBERTA
FEBRUARY, 1997
*
Matthew Christison 1997
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Alberta Education established a province wide set of
standardized examinations in 1984. While Alberta Education has reported gender
performance differences on occasion, the coasistency and stability of these
differences has not been reported. Of particular interest have been the
differences on the Social Studies 30 examination. This thesis examined gender
performance differences on the provincial social Studies 30 diploma
examination for the years 1990 to 1995,
Al1 examination results, the total universe of 126,479 test
writers for twelve examinations, were made available by Aïberta Education and
used for analysis in this study. To determine if the reported pattern of
gender performance differences was stable over time and across examination
administrations, the performance of male and female test writers was compared,
including performance on specific test items,
Results of this study suggest that overall, males significantly
outperform females on the multiple-choice section of the examination,
Significant performance differences in favor of males were also found between
regular and mature status test writers. These performance differences
illustrate the need to reassess the format and content of the Social Studies
30 diploma examination. ln addition, the teaching strategies, resources, and
instructional practices used in Social Studies 30, as well as in preparing
test writers for the diploma examination, require greater attention and
refinement.
iii
"Aiways take a job that is too big for you."
Harry Emerson Fosdick
"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what
remains to be done.
Marie Curie
With sincere gratitude and appreciation, 1 would like to
acknowledge those whose support, assistance and encouragement made the
cornpletion of this dissertation possible.
Dr- Anthony E. Marini, my supervisor, for his insights,
boundless enthusiasm, and smoothing of numerous troubles. 1 have learned much
from my supervisor and gained a fine friend, Dr. Claudio Violato for his
probing questions and keen interest in the study. Dr, Bryant Griffith for
pushing my thinking about Social Studies and its assessment, as well as for
his support, Dr. Betty Donaldson for her detailed
questions and research expertise, both of which enriched the quality of this
dissertation and my doctoral experiences. Dr. Mark Atkinson for his careful,
constructive, challenging questions and strong supportive comments. Dr. Peter
Lindsay for his time, interest, and coments, al1 of which added greatly to
the final dissertation.
Dr- Tak Fung for his patience, expertise and joyous approach to
statistical analysis, providing me with much needed support and an excellent
mode1 of teaching- Alberta Education, especially Jim Brakenbury, Barry Jonas,
Elana Scraba and David Wasserman, for providing data and ensuring cooperation
at al1 levels . Paula Turner, for patience and persistence in making sense of
endless changes.
My chilàren, Alexander and Natalie, who shared me w i t h my
research while providing me endïess support, encouragement and demonstrating
pride in every step completed- Lisa, my wife and biggest supporter, who told
me a decade ago that this would happen and who made many, many sacrifices to
make it so.
APPROVAL PAGE
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES viii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
ïnterests, motivation, and experiences
Cognitive Abilities of Males and Females
Fernale and Male Performance ûn Standadized Tests
Multiple-choice Format and Gender Bias
Classroom Assessrnent and Standardized Testing
Reseaxch Questions
CKAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
DATA ANALYSIS
Description of the Data
Data Analysis
Frequency Table for Variables
ANOVAs of Performance by Gender and Mature Status
ANoVA of Performance by Gender on individual test questions
Factor Analysis
ANOVA of Gender, Examination Performance and School Marks
Descriptive Analysis of Performance by Item Format and Content
Split-half Reliability
Discrepancies in Performance by Category
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
Overview of Results
Examination and School Mark Patterns
Status, Gender, and Performance
Performance, Item Format and Content
Factor Analysis
ANOVA of School Mark, Gender and Examination
Correlations of Content, Status and Gender
Split-half Reliability
Patterns of Test Performance
CEZAPTER F m
DISCUSSION
LIMITATIONS
IMPLICATIONS AM) RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix A Analysis of Social Studies 30 Diploma
Examination Using Rosserts Gender Bias
Categories
Appendix B Letter of Permission from Alberta Education
Appendix C Correspondence with Alberta Education
Appendix D Alberta Education and Gender Bias
Appendix E Table of Specifications for the Social
Studies 30 Diploma Examination, 1993-1994
Appendix F Holistic Scoring Guide for the Social
Studies 30 Diploma Examination Essay
Appendix G Frequency of Distribution for School
Awarded and Diploma Examination Marks
Correlation coefficients of School
Awarded and Diploma Examination Marks
Appendix 1 Distribution of Marks by Category
(Excellent, Satisfactory, Failure) and Sex
of Test Writer
Appendix J Performance Level Differences on Topics A
and B for Males and Fernales
Appendix K Item of Greatest Leveï of Female Performance
over Male Performance
Appendix L Example of a "Best Title For This Mapn
Queç t ion
Appendix M Topic A Map Question and Performance
Differences
vii
Page
Appendkc N Map Question with a SmalL Performance 225
Dif fe rence
Appendix O Map Question Restdting in oder rate
Performance Differences
Appendix P Map Question Demonstrating Spatial
Relationship and Experience Differences
between Males and Females
-
Appendix Q Factor Analysis 1994 1995 Examination
Appendix R Performance Changes from School Awarded
to Diploma Examination Marks, 1994 - 1995
Appendix S Information Provided by Alberta Education:
CAMP Materials and Diploma Examination
Bulletin
viii
Table 1 ANOVA Diploma Examination Marks by Gender
and Status: Descriptive Statistics
Table 2 ANOvA School Awarded Marks by Gender and
Status: Descriptive Statistics
Table 3 Tests of Significance for Diplonsa Examinations
Table 4 Tests of Significance for School Awarded Marks
Table 5 Significant Interaction of Gender and Status:
Simple Ef fect Anaïysis
Table 6 ANOVA of Diploma Examination and Gender by
Status: Cornparison of Raw Scores and Rank
Transf o rmed Scores
Table 7 Significant Predictive Variables for Diploma
Examination Performance: Multiple Regression
Analys is
Table 8 ANOVA for Gender and Diploma Examination Mark
Table 9 ANOVA for Gender and Performance on Diploma
Examination
Table 10 Performance of Subgroups by Topic and Multiple-
choice Section: Descriptive Statistics
Chapter One: Introduction
During the past decade, increasing attention and scrutiny have
been directed towards publicly funded education- Testhg and student
performance are frequently used to determine the quality of learaing occurring
in North American schools. Media and public attention in Aïberta has recently
focused on the results of achievernent and diploma examination testing at
grades 3, 6, 9 and 12, generating a variety of reactions to both the results
and the testing process. Chris Dawson, a Calgary Herald reporter, obtained
results of Alberta Education standardized examinations using the Freedom of
Information Act in May, 1996. (Dawson, 1996) Response varied from outrage
and protest to praise and gratitude, Few members of the public, teaching
profession or media were indifferent to the publication of school by sch~ol
listings of student examination results, (McColloch, 1996; Rasmussen, 1996)
Alberta Education established a province wide set of standardized
examinations in 1984, One of those examinations is the formative assessrnent
instrument used in determining the performance of al1 students enrolled in
Social Studies 30, This course, as with most of the other eleven diploma
examination courses, is taken by roughïy equal numbers of female and male
students. Despite almost identical performances in school awarded marks,
females perform significantly worse than do their male counterparts on the
diploma examination. This is not true for any of the other eleven provincial
examinations. As studentst final grades in al1 diploma examination courses
axe determined by blending two equal halves, school awarded and diploma