Abstract
Educational achievement over time has shown that some gender gaps exist. More importantly, there are concerns that the overall achievement of all students is not showing significant growth and a persistent problem of overall low student achievement for both males and females in the United States may be occurring (Stedman, 2009). Meanwhile, elementary and secondary school curricula continue to evolve in an effort to be sensitive towards and acknowledge differences in socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, religion and learning style. Gender difference in learning is a piece of the achievement puzzle that should be looked at. Knowing what motivates male and female students and designing learning opportunities around those motivators will likely have a profound effect on student achievement. Even though there is minimal research regarding the implications gender differences has on learning and academic achievement, the current author would argue that there is a strong connection. This belief motivated her to develop a reference guide for teachers who teach middle school students. The purpose of the resource guide is twofold: 1) to inform teachers about gender differences and preferences for learning and 2) to support teachers with gender-responsive curriculum modifications by giving concrete v examples of how current curriculum can be adapted in order to increase the academic engagement of all students. The guide includes a brief history of educational achievement over time, as well as an explanation of gender differences in brain related functions and processes, and gender preferences for the physical environment and learning. In addition, it includes a gender-responsive curriculum content checklist, gender responsive lesson plans, and a list of references and resources. The lessons plans are organized by subject: math, writing, reading, and functional skills. Each original lesson is presented first, followed by a gender-responsive modified version of the same lesson.