• What will you or your group call your project?
  
• What will be you or your group's goals and objectives?
  
• What Essential Question will you or your group investigate?
  
• What will you or your group actually be doing during Senior Options
  THIS WILL PROVIDE THE DETAILED BULK OF YOUR ANSWER.
  
• How will these activities help to fulfill your goals and objectives as well as answer your essential question?
  
• In what ways will your Sponsor interact with, work with, and assist you or your group during Senior Options?

If you are in a group:
WRITE AND SUBMIT ONE PROPOSAL FOR THE ENTIRE GROUP.

Boys and Education
My goals and objectives are to investigate the reasons that male students are failing academically and socially. I wish to learn the extent to which teachers, parents, peers, and the media have caused this problem and how they are reacting to it. I also wish to propose solutions to the problem. I will produce both a paper and public power point presentation to share what I have learned and to raise public consciousness of this hidden gender Essential Question.

My essential question is: Why are male students not living up to their full academic and social potentials?
During the 3 weeks of my senior options, from May 5th through May 23trd, I plan to research this issue by interviewing experts in the area from the Men’s Committee of the On Step Institute and a list of experts they provide. During this research time I also plan to read the works of experts in the field such as, but not limited to, Michael Thompson, Harvey Mansfield, Warren Farrell, Christina Hoff Summers, Carol Gilligan, The American Association of University Women, and Lionel Tiger.

I also plan to gather information from studies and other public information sources such as The Annual UCLA Study of Freshmen, current NYS public school reading, writing, and math assessments at the 4th and 8th grade levels, SAT and AP scores. I plan to examine other pertinent statistics such as: HS grade averages by gender and subject; college acceptances, registrations, and graduation rates by gender; crime, suicide, depression, AD (H) D, and special education ratios. I will constantly seek new avenues of research on which to draw my eventual conclusions for my presentation.

During the 2nd half of my project, from May 24th through presentation time in mid June, I will create my own survey from what I have learned to gather information about males in SHS. I will also interview students, teachers, deans, and the administration to find out more about this issue here at SHS. I will integrate this information into what I have already learned about the issue on a national level. Once I have gathered all my data I will organize and write my paper and presentation. During this time I will continue to meet with my sponsor and some of the experts I have met to help me polish and finish my work.

Dr. Ed Stephens be my guide through the research phase. He will share his sources and help me discover which I will find most useful. He will help me understand and interpret what is new to me. He will introduce me to the experts in the field I will need to chat with. He will sit in on some of these discussions as well. In turn I will help him and his Committee where ever I can to help them achieve their goals to create Men’s Studies Programs in Major Universities.

During the second half of my project, Dr. Stephens will help me design a valid and reliable survey instrument, and show me how to interpret the data. I will also ask Ms. Estersohn, my AP stat teacher, to help me in this endeavor. Finally, I will ask Dr. Stephens and Ms. Liptak, my English teacher, to help me edit and revise my work to make it publicly presentable.

WEEK BY WEEK PLAN FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY:

5/5-5/9:
Read the works of experts in the field such as, but not limited to, Michael Thompson, Harvey Mansfield, Warren Farrell, Christina Hoff Summers, Carol Gilligan, The American Association of University Women, and Lionel Tiger. I will make notes and organize basic information to help guide me through the interview process. During this time I also plan to prepare my interview questions, based on my new found knowledge.

5/12-5/16:
Begin interviews and gathering of information based on these interviews. Continue reading and seek new sources. Start to gather information from studies and other public information sources such as The Annual UCLA Study of Freshmen, current NYS public school reading, writing, and math assessments at the 4th and 8th grade levels, SAT and AP scores

5/19-5/23:
I plan to examine other pertinent statistics such as: HS grade averages by gender and subject; college acceptances, registrations, and graduation rates by gender; crime, suicide, depression, AD (H) D, and special education ratios. I will create my own survey from what I have learned to gather information about males in SHS.

5/27-5/30:
I will also interview students, teachers, deans, and the administration to find out more about this issue here at SHS. I will integrate this information into what I have already learned about the issue on a national level.

6/3-13:
Once I have gathered all my data I will organize and write my paper and presentation. During this time I will continue to meet with my sponsor and some of the experts I have met to help me polish and finish my work. I will also begin to prepare my presentation with the help of my mentor and sponsor.

6/16-20:
I will participate in the Senior Options trip to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. This trip will be one week in length. The rest of the time I will get ready for my printed and oral presentations. I plan, with the consent of my mentor, to schedule a presentation date later in the presentation week to make sure I have enough time to finish my work because of the time I will be in Mississippi. I will also finish my presentation with the help of my mentor and sponsor.