Though society is continually working to close the gender gap, a DeKalb academic report card shows that it may still exist within schools.

According to the 2007 report card, about 87 percent of boys graduate high school, compared to 93 percent of females.

While the amount of non-graduate males is larger, boys still outperform most girls in math and science from third to eighth grade.

The report included statistics for the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT), which concluded that there was still a prevalent gender gap in test scores for the district.

Most female elementary students tended to do slightly better on the reading section. But the gap between male and female test scores widened even more in the mathematics and sciences sections, where boys tested better.

The same trend continued for male and female students in junior high.

DeKalb school district

The DeKalb school district is studying the performance of its students to fix the gender gap.

“We believe every child can learn,” said Margo Sickele, literacy coordinator of the DeKalb school district. “We want children to learn to the best of their ability.”

One of the ways the district looks to prevent gender biases is based on the type of books their students read.

“Text selection is key,” Sickele said. “Every year, we continue to look at materials that are unbiased and meet the needs of all students.”

The district also implements a data team, which consists of all content-area teachers and sometimes other specialists.

“Each school has a team that meets regularly,” Becky McCabe, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said. “[There’s] a lot of brainstorming.”

Those teams evaluate students’ performance and look at differences that take place in the classroom. McCabe said that the team also looks at curriculum and how to change instructional methods to better serve students.

Schools are looking to make sure that there is equality between boys and girls.
“The majority of teachers are very aware,” said McCabe. “They’re really studying the bias we have.”

According to Sickele, there is not as much of a gender bias in DeKalb school districts as there might be in other districts.

Sickele said the issues they are focusing on now are achievement gaps in subgroups such as poverty-stricken, special-education and non-English speaking students.

2007 DeKalb school district

High school graduation rate
86.8 percent of boys
92.9 percent of girls

Third Grade
Reading
Percentage of DeKalb district boys exceeding standards for ISAT - 23.5
State level percentage of boys exceeding: 21.2
Girls - 36
State level: 27.2
Math
Boys exceed standards - 50
State level: 43.1
Girls - 51.3
State level 40.9

Fourth Grade
Reading
Boys - 28.6
State level 23.5
Girls - 25.5
State level 27.4

Math
Boys-40.9
State level 30.3
Girls-26.1
State level 28.7
Science
Boys-23.6
State level 20.5
Girls-17
State level 15.8

Fifth Grade
Reading
Boys - 25.1
State level 23.2
Girls - 34.1
State level 28.1
Math
Boys - 24.1
State level 20.7
Girls - 21.6
State level 18.8

Sixth Grade
Reading
Boys - 14.5
State level 16.2
Girls - 21.2
State level 22.2
Math
Boys - 23.8
State level 19.7
Girls--14.8
State level 18.7

Seventh Grade
Reading
Boys--15
State level 13.1
Girls--18.8
State level 17.1
Math
Boys--30.1
State level 26.3
Girls--26.1
State level 24
Science
Boys--35.8
State level 26.5
Girls--24.8
State level 21.4

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