Title IX and Project Lead the Way: Achieving Equity through All-female Cohorts in Public School Settings

Nationally recognized programs, such as Project Lead the Way (PLTW), have provided interventions to increase the number of students exposed to engineering principles at the K-12 level. Although numbers of participants are increasing, in many high schools PLTW is offered as an elective and attracts few female students. In an effort to understand classroom dynamics, many PLTW programs show that interest of underrepresented populations mirrors national metrics for women in engineering. Recently, specialized efforts to recruit and retain women have emerged. Partnerships between universities and K-12 educational systems have been created to provide opportunities to increase student engagement. All-female PLTW Intro to Engineering Design (IED) courses have been developed in several schools to attract more underrepresented students. Over a few short years, specific all-female cohorts have served to increase the number of women at high rates. Though programs with cohorts continue to show success, questions regarding Title IX compliance or violation emerge with single-gender courses offered within public educational settings. This paper will provide an overview of known all-female cohort efforts in Project Lead the Way, an overview of Title IX, and a discussion of whether these cohorts are compliant with gender equity legislation when offered in a public school setting. Background and Introduction Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a nationally recognized organization in over 8,000 schools across the US. With professional development and training for teachers, Project Lead the Way program curriculum encompasses Kindergarten – 5 grade (PLTW Launch), Middle School (PLTW Gateway), and High School (PLTW Engineering, Biomedical Science, and Computer Science). For Launch and Gateway programs, curriculum may be embedded into public school settings in an effort to expose all students to activity, project or problem-based learning strategies. For high school students, many PLTW initiatives are not embedded, but offered as an elective course, outside of their normal Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) trajectories. Students in public school settings where PLTW is offered as an elective may find that these courses conflict and compete with other courses that may hold a personal interest. Though PLTW courses are engaging and expose students to principles in engineering and technology, in many educational settings, it is up to the individual student to decide on PLTW as a viable and worthwhile pathway. To assess the impact of PLTW, several states have begun longitudinal tracking of students enrolled in PLTW courses. In Illinois, PLTW programs have shown a dramatic increase in the number of schools participating with almost 8,000 students enrolled in 2012. From their pathway to engineering courses, females were shown to go on to Introduction to Engineering Design Courses (48%), Principles of Engineering (21%), and Digital Electronics (8.5%) at substantially higher rates than in 2004. Though these students represented 16% of the total PLTW pathway courses, their enrollment in high school courses were evidenced by their previous exposure to STEM content and Gateway to Technology unit modules. In Milwaukee, PLTW programs boast 37 schools with an enrollment of 9425 students. Females represented 49% of the total population in these programs, much higher than national average. Positive impacts included better student outcomes and engagement in STEM subjects as well as higher attendance rates for seniors. Longitudinal research on Iowa PLTW graduates report overall graduation rates were 3% higher than in control groups. Males and females both showed slight increases in their probability of graduating from high school after participating in PLTW programs. This study also found that approximately 70% of PLTW students transitioned to higher education, while non-PLTW students were more likely to transition to 2-year institutions. Further examination revealed that although the majority of Iowa’s PLTW participants are white males, 20% of PLTW female participants suggested their numbers mirrored national trends for mechanical and electrical engineering. Indiana programs reported that PLTW increased the proportion of students majoring in STEM disciplines. If students took three or more courses, they were six-times more likely to major in these disciplines than non-participants. However, this study discussed that less than 17% of PLTW participants took more than two courses. Overall results indicate that PLTW participation increases the number of students entering university STEM majors. Many states are able to show impact with PLTW however, they are relying on students that self-select PLTW as an elective course. When tracked to college, a 2006-2007 report found that 40% of former PLTW students select engineering and technology. Overall, students selected engineering at 5-10 times the rate of typical students. Though this report concluded women were not well-represented, they expected the implementation of Biomedical Engineering PLTW courses would attract females at higher numbers, thereby increasing the participation of women in engineering university programs. This study also found that 80% of PLTW students planned to go to college, compared to 63% of their peers. Further, 90% indicated they knew what they wanted to major in because of their PLTW experience and 80% indicated their PLTW experience would significantly assist their success in their postsecondary education. This comprehensive report suggests further evidence PLTW increases the quantity, quality and diversity of engineering students. In Texas, students were measured over a six-year period. From 2006 – 2010, enrollment quadrupled and participants increased 18,686 individuals (4498 in 2006 to 23184 in 2010). Female participation increased 586% and Hispanic students increased 507%. This study also showed a high impact on students enrolling in higher education (62.1%) compared to their nonPLTW counterparts (58.4%). In addition, post-secondary enrollment was slightly greater for females (63.5%) compared to their non-PLTW peers (63.1%). Several studies have examined self-efficacy of females for math and science subjects when participating in PLTW. Exposure to engineering through PLTW has shown to have significant impact on self-efficacy and underrepresented students. The more exposure students experienced, the higher their self-efficacy in engineering. In addition, formal exposure to engineering is necessary. For females, many all-female cohort efforts exist in informal settings (camps, one-day programs, science museum activities) and show little long-term results. Exposure to engineering through PLTW assists students with interest as well as achievement in other core subject areas, such as math. Time and time again, females were shown to outperform males in subject areas as well as increase their confidence and self-efficacy in answering questions in math courses if they participated in PLTW. Classroom observations indicated that PLTW females volunteered to answer questions in math classes four times (68%) more often than their non-PLTW female counterparts (17%). Overall, studies have shown that exposure to PLTW has a positive influence on student math and science achievement, career interest, motivation, and future career choice. Though these studies show impact, females are not enrolling in PLTW programs at high rates. Therefore, efforts are needed to remove environmental factors that inhibit women’s participation in PLTW and traditionally male-dominated areas. All-Female Cohorts Recently, several all-female cohorts have popped up in Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Alaska and Texas. Though not widely known, these efforts have been enlisted to significantly increase the number of women entering IED and Electronics courses through PLTW. In 2011, a partnership between Hilliard Davidson High School in Worthington, OH and the Women in Engineering (WiE) Program at The Ohio State University (OSU) was initiated. Originally, a male math and PLTW teacher was concerned about participation of only two female students in his entire PLTW four-year program. With research-based practices, the Women in Engineering Program suggested that an all-female cohort be piloted for freshman through senior women to get them engaged. With support from the administration, an all-female IED course called “WiE IED” was offered in Fall 2011. Support from the university was minimal as female engineering students visited the classroom about five times per year. One of the first events included recruitment from the feeder middle school to bring interested students to the high school campus for a 1⁄2 day program. Five OSU engineering student volunteers and the Interim WiE Director assisted the school to create an interactive, hands-on experience with PLTW high school students. The results were positive and 18 students enrolled in the course. The next year, the program had 30 students enrolled in their PLTW all-female cohort. By the third semester, the all-female IED course had a wait-list and students were continuing on with other PLTW courses. A video was produced and launched on the PLTW national website, with the teacher, current students, former PLTW participants and program administrators from Ohio State. Due to hearing about the success of the Hilliard Davidson group, Alaska’s Dimond High School PLTW initiated a similar program. “Smart Girls Rock” increased their PLTW participation from 13% to nearly 35% with a 50-50 split in their Digital Electronics course. Gulliver Academy Middle School in Coral Cable, FL also showed a significant increase in the number of females in their PLTW courses after opening an all-girls section of IED. Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa also formed the Society of Women Exploring Engineering and Technology (SWEET) to keep girls already studying engineering engaged. Across the PLT