By Laurel White
Leaders of elementary and high schools need more training on how to implement policies that support transgender and gender-diverse students, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The study, published in the American Educational Research Journal, conducted and analyzed interviews with 36 school administrators and policy consultants in Illinois to determine school leaders’ knowledge of existing legal and policy protections for transgender and gender-expansive students in their state, as well as how to link those policies to administrative actions. It found a number of administrators demonstrated limited or incorrect understanding of federal and state policies.
Mollie McQuillan, an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, was the lead author of the study. Co-authors Janel Anderson of Gonzaga University and Lydia Gandy-Fastovich of the University of Utah began working on the study as doctoral students in the department. McQuillan says school leaders are tasked with navigating a complex, evolving landscape of law and policy surrounding transgender and gender-expansive students.
“Administrators often struggle to understand the educational legal landscape, which is composed of several legal authorities,” McQuillan says. “This paper provides a pragmatic framework to guide more gender-inclusive leadership approaches.”
The researchers describe how leaders can leverage the law, take personal responsibility for reforms, work with communities to build capacity, and access appropriate resources about gender diversity, the law, and policy protections. Data on differences in how leaders enact these practices helped the researchers place leaders on a spectrum of resistant, emergent, and gender-inclusive leadership. That spectrum, which the researchers developed in this study, is called the Gender-Inclusivity Leadership Spectrum.
McQuillan and the co-authors point out that, based on their data, most district leaders would benefit from receiving more professional development on gender inclusivity, as well as more specific guidance from state and federal authorities.
The researchers believe this study is among the first — if not the first — publication in the American Educational Research Journal, a leading education research publication, focused on issues specifically related to transgender and gender-diverse students.
“In a way, this article breaks a glass ceiling in this flagship journal for scholars writing about gender inclusivity,” McQuillan says.
Broadly, McQuillan’s research examines the intersection of educational policy, social relationships, and health of LGBTQ+ students and educators. Another recent publication from McQuillan found transgender students are more likely to seek support from school staff and less likely to seek support from their parents when compared to their cisgender peers.
Read the full study, “‘Sometimes It’s Hard to Do the Right Thing’: The Gender-Inclusivity Leadership Spectrum of How PK–12 Administrators Understand Gender Diversity Laws, Policies, and Implementation,” here.