High School Sports: Many Schools Encouraged Equal Opportunities, but Education Could Further Help Athletics Administrators under Title IX
Released: 2018-06-11T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Research has found that girls’ participation in sports has increased dramatically since the passage of Title IX. However, research has also found that progress toward equal sports participation between boys and girls has slowed since 2000, and a participation gap remains between the sexes. We previously reported that federal data from school year 2013- 14 showed that national girls’ participation rates in public high school interscholastic sports remained nearly 10 percentage points lower than boys’ rates. The same data showed that at nearly half of schools, girls’ share of sports participation was less than their share of enrollment by 5 percentage points or more.

Education’s Role

Within Education, OCR enforces and implements Title IX, which applies at all educational levels, including colleges, universities, and public school districts, with limited exceptions. OCR’s most recent annual report describes its mission as ensuring equal access to education and promoting educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws. OCR’s core activities include responding to civil rights complaints filed by the public and conducting agency-initiated investigations to enforce federal civil rights laws; providing technical assistance to help institutions achieve compliance with the civil rights laws that OCR enforces; and issuing regulations and policy guidance to ensure equal access to educational opportunity. OCR also conducts the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), which collects key information related to civil rights from public elementary and secondary schools and school districts, including information on interscholastic sports and teams offered for boys and girls and their participation.

With respect to athletics, Education’s Title IX regulations require schools that offer sports teams to provide equal opportunities for members of both sexes. The regulations, along with OCR guidance, specify key elements OCR considers, among other things, in determining whether schools are offering equal opportunities (see fig. 1). OCR uses the number of participants on a school’s sports teams as a proxy for participation opportunities when determining whether those opportunities are proportionate for boys and girls.

Recipients of federal education funds, such as public school districts, bear the responsibility for complying with Title IX. Districts are required to designate an employee to coordinate efforts under Title IX, and to make this Title IX coordinator visible. In 2014, we recommended OCR clarify and disseminate information on the roles and responsibilities of these Title IX coordinators. In response, during fiscal year 2015, OCR issued several pieces of Title IX guidance, including a Dear Colleague letter delineating the specific requirements and duties of coordinators, in addition to a letter to coordinators and a Title IX resource guide, which includes guidance on monitoring compliance in athletics. This guide states that the Title IX coordinator should work closely with many different members of the school community, including athletics administrators. Regarding athletics, it recommends tools that Title IX coordinators can use to encourage equal opportunities in athletics, which include evaluating whether there is unmet interest in a particular sport and comparing expenditures on boys’ and girls’ sports teams as an indicator of benefits provided to those teams.

Athletics Administrators Reported Schools Took Some Steps to Encourage Equal Opportunities, but About Half Did Not Receive Title IX Coordinator Support

To Encourage Equal Opportunities, the Majority of Athletics Administrators Reported That Their Schools Assessed Resources Provided to Boys’ and Girls’ Teams

The majority of public high schools assessed some aspects of their sports programs over the past 2 years to encourage equal opportunities for boys’ and girls’ sports teams, according to our nationally generalizable survey of athletics administrators. Specifically, the estimated percentage of schools assessing key athletic resources provided to these teams ranged from 63 percent of schools assessing travel opportunities to 76 percent assessing uniforms (see fig. 2).

In our interviews with eight athletics administrators, we heard a variety of approaches to assessing these resources. For example, when scheduling practice times and competitions, five athletics administrators said that they scheduled a boys’ competition only if they could also schedule a girls’ competition. Four athletics administrators described watching practices, inspecting equipment to identify when it needed replacement, or replacing equipment as their coaches requested it. Four athletics administrators said that coaches can sometimes influence the distribution of resources. For instance, one athletics administrator noted that in the past, his school had unequal facilities for boys’ baseball and girls’ softball, stemming in part from the boys’ baseball coach being a stronger advocate for his team. However, these athletics administrators generally described working with the coaches to ensure that resource allocation did not create inequalities.

Most schools reported using a mix of public and private funds to support their athletic programs. An estimated 75 percent of public high schools received public funding (state or local) for their sports programs; for some individual sports or school athletics programs, public funding may be the primary funding source. We estimate that about 52 percent of schools that received public funding monitored or directed its use to help encourage equal resources for boys’ and girls’ teams. OCR’s Title IX Resource Guide encourages Title IX coordinators to periodically review expenditures on male and female athletic teams as part of their review of resources. At four schools, athletics administrators told us that they paid attention to the actual resources girls and boys received rather than focusing on expenditures, and three of these administrators explained there could be valid reasons for spending differences. For example, one athletics director said that both boys’ and girls’ hockey teams at his school participated in annual tournaments, but the girls preferred a tournament that did not require a hotel stay, so it was less expensive.

In addition, we estimate that about 81 percent of public high schools had at least one booster club and, according to our survey, an estimated 51 percent of these schools monitored or directed the club to encourage equal opportunities. Among the eight athletics administrators we interviewed, relationships with booster clubs varied. For instance, some issued booster club guidelines and approved their purchases in advance, while others had no oversight of booster club expenditures. For example, one athletics administrator told us that he provides booster club presidents with written guidelines and approves purchases to make sure they do not create a Title IX compliance issue. Another athletics administrator’s school had recently undergone negotiations to obtain access to booster club expenditure records for the first time so that they could regularly review those expenditures. OCR has stated in compliance decisions, and OCR officials confirmed to us in interviews, that it considers resources provided through the use of private funds, including booster funding, in assessing whether schools are providing equivalent resources to teams of each sex. An official from a national association representing athletics administrators stated that administrators who take the association’s Title IX trainings are often surprised to learn they should monitor or direct booster club spending to help ensure equal opportunities.

Some Athletics Administrators Reported That Their Schools Used Surveys and Other Tools to Gauge Student Sports Interests, Which Can Help Encourage Equal Opportunities

In addition to assessing the various school and booster club resources provided to boys’ and girls’ teams, some schools recently took steps to gauge student interest in specific sports as a means of encouraging equal opportunities, according to our survey. For example, we estimate that 40 percent of schools surveyed students about their sports interests over the last 2 school years and 25 percent added or changed their sports offerings based on requests from the underrepresented sex in their school’s sports program (see fig. 3).

An estimated 31 percent of schools had not recently used any of these tools, or did not know if they had used the tools, to gauge student interest. And, according to our analysis of Education’s data, 60 percent of schools had one sex underrepresented by more than 5 percent in their sports programs in school year 2013-14.

OCR guidance states that where one sex is underrepresented in sports, schools can demonstrate they are providing equal participation opportunities by using multiple indicators to identify, among other things, whether the sports currently offered meet student interest. OCR guidance also states that in its investigations the agency determines on a case-by-case basis whether sports participation numbers at a school are disproportionate, and whether the school is taking sufficient steps to accommodate the athletic interests and abilities of both girls and boys. In addition, OCR guidance describes tools that schools and school districts can use to assess for themselves whether action is needed to address any underrepresentation, or to otherwise encourage equal athletic opportunities. According to the guidance, these efforts should be led by the school district’s Title IX coordinator.

About Half of Athletics Administrators Were Either Unaware of or Unsupported by Their District Title IX Coordinator

About 51 percent of athletics administrators were either not aware of or not supported by their Title IX coordinator, according to our survey. Specifically, we estimate that 40 percent of athletics administrators– serving about 6,110 schools and 5 million students–were unaware of a Title IX coordinator in their school district and that an additional 12 percent were aware of their Title IX coordinator but received little to no support from them (see fig. 4). We also found that almost all of the athletics administrators who were not aware of having a Title IX coordinator were in a district that had, in fact, designated one. Specifically, when we matched athletic administrators’ survey responses with OCR’s data and extrapolated to the population overall, we estimated that 99 percent of the athletics administrators who were not aware of a Title IX coordinator in their district were in a school district that had listed a coordinator in school year 2013-14. Further, an estimated 26 percent of athletics administrators wanted additional guidance or assistance related to encouraging equal opportunities for boys and girls, according to our survey.

Given the significant number of athletics administrators who reported being unaware of or unsupported by their Title IX coordinators, our survey results raise questions as to whether Title IX coordinators—whom school districts must designate and make visible in accordance with Title IX regulations—are familiar with and using OCR’s guidance on their role and responsibilities. This guidance states that the Title IX coordinator should support and work closely with members of the school community, including athletics administrators, to ensure compliance with Title IX. When asked about these survey results, officials from an association for Title IX coordinators and for other related administrators told us that they were not surprised that a number of athletics administrators were not aware of or supported by their Title IX coordinator, because the results are consistent with what they hear when interacting with their members across the country. Based on these interactions, these association officials said they have observed that there is often a separation between athletics and other school departments, and that Title IX coordinators without an athletics background may be reluctant to engage in oversight of that department.

Based on their experiences providing training to Title IX coordinators, these association officials also said that Title IX coordinators’ familiarity with Title IX requirements has improved somewhat since the release of OCR’s 2015 guidance delineating their role and responsibilities, but their familiarity with these requirements is still generally low, particularly with respect to athletics. In these officials’ opinion, this lack of understanding is due in part to the complex and wide-ranging nature of Title IX and to the lack of resources for training in many school districts. These and other subject matter specialists we interviewed said that other potential factors contributing to athletics administrators’ lack of awareness of their Title IX coordinator included high turnover among athletics administrators and myriad responsibilities of staff in both roles. When Title IX coordinators do not work closely with athletics administrators, as OCR guidance suggests they do, they may miss opportunities to make those administrators aware of tools the guidance recommends that could help advance equal opportunities. In addition, OCR guidance recognizes that the most serious Title IX violations tend to occur in districts without a supportive Title IX coordinator.

OCR officials said that they had learned from their complaint investigations and compliance reviews that some athletics administrators were not working with their districts’ Title IX coordinators. However, these officials said they did not know the extent to which Title IX coordinators themselves were aware of and using the tools recommended in their guidance because, outside of these enforcement activities, OCR generally does not collect information on Title IX coordinators’ knowledge of or activities related to the guidance. Standards for internal control in the federal government state that agencies should both obtain quality information from and communicate quality information to external parties to help achieve the agency’s objectives and address risks. In OCR’s case, its objectives include ensuring schools actively encourage equal opportunities for boys and girls as articulated in Education’s Title IX regulations and OCR guidance, and risks include violations of Title IX that have not resulted in formal complaints. Absent better information on Title IX coordinators’ awareness and use of Title IX guidance, OCR may not have a complete picture of school districts’ ongoing efforts to encourage equal opportunities, challenges they encounter in doing so, and successful strategies that might be shared with a broader audience. Collecting and analyzing this information could enable OCR to target its communication to Title IX coordinators, and further encourage them to work with athletics administrators on ensuring equal athletic opportunities.

Available Opportunities Helped Drive Public High School Sports Participation Levels, but Family Resources and Other Factors Could Limit Participation

The Number of and Interest in Opportunities Offered by Schools Encouraged Higher Participation Levels

The number of participation opportunities schools offered, as well as student interest in those opportunities and in working with specific coaches at the school, were top factors that encouraged interscholastic sports participation among public high school students, according to our survey of public high school athletics administrators. We estimate that over 70 percent of athletics administrators viewed the number of interscholastic athletic participation opportunities at their school as encouraging boys and girls to participate in high school sports (see fig. 5).

Our 2017 report on high school sports access and participation found that in school year 2013-14, public high schools overall offered the same number of sports and teams for boys and girls. Of the nine subject matter specialists we interviewed for this report, six described specific knowledge of factors that encourage or discourage participation in high school sports. All six of these subject matter specialists agreed that opportunity is an important factor affecting student participation, especially for girls; several specialists also said that the continued participation gap shows that girls do not have access to an equal number of roster spots on teams as boys. For example, one researcher, as well as a representative of a national association of athletics administrators, suggested that one reason the gap between boys and girls persists is that schools do not offer girls’ sports with roster sizes equivalent to popular boys’ sports, such as football. One of the eight athletics administrators said that this was the case at her school, noting that none of her girls’ teams came close to the size of the football teams. The gap may be particularly acute for minority girls, according to one subject matter specialist. Our 2017 report on public high school sports access and participation found that, for both boys and girls, fewer students attended high minority and high poverty schools that offered sports, compared to students at other schools, and these schools had lower participation rates when they did offer sports.

We estimate that over 75 percent of athletics administrators viewed the level of student interest in the sports offered by their school as encouraging participation in their school’s teams. Several subject matter specialists agreed that offering sports that align with students’ specific interests is an important aspect of providing meaningful opportunities, but a few also noted that some schools fail to consider which sports most interest their female students.

We estimate that 70 percent or more of athletics administrators viewed student interest in working with certain coaches as a factor that encouraged participation at their school. As explained by one researcher, coaching quality plays a large role in encouraging high school sports participation and a good coach can pull students into a sport and keep them participating. Alternatively, another researcher noted that less qualified or inexperienced coaches depress participation. These views are consistent with our work, in which we reported that the quality of coaching is a key factor in maximizing the positive effects of sports participation on students’ personal development.

In addition, research shows that the state of athletic facilities can also affect a student’s choice to participate in high school sports, and a few athletics administrators and subject matter specialists we interviewed also cited this as a factor. For example, one study found that proximity to sports facilities was a factor predicting children’s participation in team sports. Another study found that student participation in interscholastic sports is higher at schools with more sports facilities compared with schools that have few sports facilities. A few of the subject matter specialists and one athletics administrator made similar observations about the relationship between facilities, participation, and inequity. For example, the athletics administrator said that at his high school, baseball and softball participation has decreased because their athletic facilities are located off campus, requiring additional travel for both students and parents for practices and games. Additionally, representatives from two advocacy groups noted that parents may have concerns related to school sports facilities, particularly for the safety of their daughters. For example, one said that some schools have girls’ teams practice in off-campus facilities, sometimes in unsafe neighborhoods, without offering transportation. The other said parents may be concerned when fields are insufficiently lit or their daughters come home late from practices.

Factors Related to Family and Community Resources and Cultural Expectations May Discourage Participation in Sports

We found no clear consensus in our survey of athletics administrators regarding factors that tend to discourage students from participating in sports, and the eight athletic administrators we interviewed had mixed views on the subject. That said, the most frequently mentioned factors that were perceived to discourage participation (representing an estimated 15-35 percent of athletic administrators) were (1) competing responsibilities, (2) lack of access to athletic feeder programs, (3) the perceived benefits of joining club teams, and (4) participation costs to the student.

Competing responsibilities. Over one-quarter of athletics administrators cited students’ competing responsibilities as discouraging participation in public high school sports. This could include a range of responsibilities, including schoolwork, other school activities, and family obligations. Among the athletic administrators we interviewed, one noted that many students at his magnet school were more focused on academics than athletics. A few cited examples of competing responsibilities that were tied to family resources. For example, two said that many of their students have jobs and family responsibilities that prevent them from participating in sports. One of these administrators said that his school’s student population largely comes from lower-income families, and many are juggling jobs; in response, the school changed practice schedules to better match students’ availability, which has made it easier for more students to participate.

Lack of access to athletic feeder programs. Some athletics administrators also mentioned a lack of access to athletic feeder programs—club or community-based youth sports programs that train younger children before they enter high school—as discouraging participation in sports at their public high schools. In addition, a few of the eight athletics administrators we interviewed saw this lack of access as being closely related to community or family resources. Two of these administrators, who worked in lower-income schools, reported that younger children in their area have very little access to community or club sports and that students who do not have previous exposure to sports may lack the skills to participate at the high school level. One of these administrators also said that having more community youth sports might increase student interest in playing at the high school level. A third athletics administrator said that feeder programs help drive participation in high school sports. In his school’s competitive environment, students trying out for sports for the first time when they get to high school are, in most cases, likely to be cut from the team. He added that he has found that family income is a major contributing factor to children’s ability to begin training early, which puts lower income students at a disadvantage. His point was echoed in one research study that found that as family income increases, boys and girls tend to enter organized sports at a younger age.

Perceived benefits of joining club teams. Athletics administrators also mentioned the presence of club teams that students may choose over school teams as discouraging participation in public high school teams. This may be particularly true for higher-income students, as competitive travel and club teams—which parents and students may see as offering higher-caliber coaching, more specialized training, and greater opportunities to compete against elite athletes—can be quite expensive. Several subject matter specialists we interviewed cited this as an issue that affects high school sports participation. Further, a few of the high school athletics administrators we interviewed observed decreased student participation at their schools due to the presence of club teams. One athletics administrator from the Southwest explained that participation is weaker for his school’s Olympic sports, such as swimming, due to competition from club sports. He noted that at his high school, this phenomenon makes it more difficult to recruit other students because the school teams become less competitive. Another athletics administrator from the Midwest explained that at his high school, the presence of club sports disproportionally depressed girls’ participation in high school sports. In particular, he said the popularity of club girls’ volleyball in the winter reduced participation in his girls’ basketball teams.

Participation costs. The cost to students of participating in athletics was also mentioned by some athletics administrators as discouraging participation in public high school teams. The subject matter specialists and athletics administrators we interviewed had mixed views on the effect of costs on student participation. Among the subject matter specialists, two said that the increasing prevalence of fees in high school sports programs is threatening participation by lower-income students. One athletics administrator agreed, saying that in the past he has dissuaded his school district from charging participation fees for this reason. Another said that his school does not charge fees, but students could still be discouraged by the fundraising required for “extras” such as team t-shirts. In contrast, one subject matter specialist said that it is typically higher-income schools that charge students fees to participate in sports, and therefore fees do not generally affect students in lower-income schools.

In addition to the four most commonly cited barriers from our survey, several research studies noted that cultural expectations around family responsibilities and gender roles may also discourage some student groups more than others. For example, one study found that Hispanic girls quit sports to take care of younger siblings at higher rates than their white peers. This and another study noted that students from recent immigrant families may also be discouraged from participating in sports because of different cultural expectations around prioritizing sports, and girls may be additionally affected by expectations around gender roles. For example, it found that immigrant parents are more likely than non- immigrant parents to believe that boys are more interested in sports than girls, and that 75 percent of immigrant sons were involved with organized or team sports compared with 43 percent of immigrant daughters. Similarly, a study of sports involvement among East African immigrant girls found that those the researchers interviewed face social barriers to participation, such as peer criticism, parents’ fears of interactions with male athletes, and lack of parental support.

Several of the subject matter specialists and athletics administrators with whom we spoke made similar observations around cultural expectations. One suggested that differences in sports participation among immigrant communities may stem from the opportunities to play sports in the family’s country of origin, noting that the United States is unique in tying sports teams to its academic institutions. Officials from two advocacy organizations, one of which advocates for the Hispanic community, noted that some Hispanic families expect daughters to come home after school to help care for their siblings. This can interfere with participating in after-school activities. In addition, one athletics administrator we interviewed, whose school serves a predominantly Hispanic community, commented that his coaches have seen girls from this community quit sports teams on several occasions due to family responsibilities. One of the advocacy organization officials added that schools wanting to improve participation among Hispanic girls should, for example, consider more creative scheduling to allow these students to attend practices.

Conclusions

While sports participation for girls has risen dramatically over the last 45 years, a significant gap still remains between boys and girls in public high school sports. Our findings suggest that the reasons for this gap are varied and complex, and according to our survey, at many schools, athletics administrators are not aware of or do not receive support from their Title IX coordinator. OCR’s guidance suggests that uninvolved Title IX coordinators are associated with serious Title IX violations, but OCR does not collect information about coordinators’ level of involvement with districts and schools outside of its complaint investigations and compliance reviews. Better information about Title IX coordinators’ awareness and use of OCR’s guidance could help OCR support schools’ and districts’ efforts to provide equal opportunities in their sports programs.

Recommendation for Executive Action

The Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights should determine the extent to which Title IX coordinators at the K-12 level are aware of and using the tools recommended in OCR’s existing guidance and any barriers preventing their use of this guidance, and use this information in OCR’s efforts to encourage them to work with athletics administrators on ensuring equal athletic opportunities. (Recommendation 1)

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to Education for review and comment. Education provided written comments that are reproduced in appendix III, as well as technical comments that we incorporated, as appropriate.

In its written comments, Education stated that it partially concurs with our recommendation that OCR determine the extent of K-12 Title IX coordinators’ knowledge and use of tools in its existing guidance and use this information in its efforts to encourage them to work with athletics administrators to help ensure equal athletic opportunities. Specifically, Education stated that when OCR conducts investigations in response to complaints it would look for opportunities to examine whether K-12 Title IX coordinators were aware of, and using, the tools in OCR’s guidance. Education also said that when OCR engages in technical assistance activities, it will encourage Title IX coordinators to work with athletics administrators to encourage equal opportunities. Education also said that it will consider our recommendation during its frequent reviews of the agency’s communications practices.

We agree that these are important first steps in helping ensure that Title IX coordinators are working with athletics administrators and otherwise fulfilling their responsibilities to encourage equal opportunities. However, given our finding that about half of public high school athletics administrators were unaware of or unsupported by their Title IX coordinator, we continue to believe the systemic approach we recommend is necessary. The activities that OCR described in its response are predicated on a complaint being filed or technical assistance being requested. This narrow approach means that OCR will likely not learn the full extent to which K-12 Title IX coordinators are unaware of or not using the tools in OCR’s guidance. It also means that its reviews of the agency’s communication practices may be hampered by incomplete information on how best to encourage Title IX coordinators to use these tools and work with athletics administrators to ensure equal opportunities.

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send copies to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary of Education, and other interested parties. In addition, this report will be available at no charge on GAO’s website at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff should have any questions about this report, please contact me at 617-788-0580 or nowickij@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV.

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) what measures public high schools and athletics administrators have taken to encourage equal athletic opportunities for boys and girls, and (2) what factors affect boys’ and girls’ participation levels in public high school sports programs. To address these objectives, we used a variety of methods, including a web- based survey of public high school athletics administrators; follow-up interviews with eight survey respondents; reviews of federal law, regulations, and guidance; and interviews with federal officials at the Department of Education (Education) and with subject matter specialists.

Web-based Survey of Public High School Athletics Administrators

To obtain school-level perspectives on factors that affect boys’ and girls’ participation levels in public high school sports programs and approaches schools and athletics administrators have used to encourage equal athletic opportunities, we designed and administered a survey to athletics administrators at a generalizable, stratified random sample of public high schools in the United States. The survey included questions about what sports and levels of competition the school offered for each sex, how many boys and girls participated in sports in school year 2015-16, and factors that encourage and discourage girls’ and boys’ sports participation at the school. The survey also included a variety of questions related to the school’s and athletics administrator’s activities to encourage equal opportunities in the prior 2 years, challenges they faced in encouraging equal opportunities, sources of guidance on Title IX, booster club structures and oversight, and data they maintained on funding and expenditures. In addition, it included a question on whether, to the athletics administrator’s knowledge, their school district had a Title IX coordinator.

Our population of interest for the survey was athletics administrators at public high schools. In terms of the schools, we defined our target population as public schools offering at least one high school level grade (9, 10, 11, or 12) that appeared in both Education’s Common Core of Data (CCD) and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for the 2013-14 school year, were located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and indicated in the CRDC that they offered interscholastic sports. We excluded schools that were listed as closed or not operational according to the school year 2015-16 CCD, as well as single-sex schools and schools located in U.S. territories. We also obtained the most current school contact information from the school year 2015-16 CCD.

We originally selected a stratified random sample of 813 from a population of 15,330 schools in our sampling frame. However, we ultimately excluded 26 schools from our original population and sample because they had closed, did not serve high school grades, or did not offer interscholastic sports, and thus were not considered eligible for our survey. In addition, we found schools in the population and sample that shared sports programs and athletics administrators, effectively reducing the population by 10 schools and the sample by 3 schools for purposes of our survey. This resulted in a sample of 784 schools from the eligible population of 15,294.

We stratified this sample based on school type (charter or traditional), concentration of minority students (low = 0-25 percent, mid = 26-74 percent, high = 75-100 percent), locale type (urban, suburban, or rural), and participation rates of male and female students in school year 2013- 14. This created 24 strata as noted in table 1. For the participation rate strata, we calculated each school’s male and female students’ participation rates using data from the school year 2013-14 CRDC. Participation rates were defined as the number of sports participants of that gender divided by the number of enrolled students of that gender, and these rates were then compared to determine which gender had higher participation: females or males. We placed schools with equal participation rates for males and females into the “Females” participation category because, given the overall higher participation rates for boys, schools with both equal participation rates and higher rates for girls are rarer.

We chose these strata to ensure schools with the stratum characteristics were included in the sample. The total sample size of n=813 was inflated for an expected 60 percent response rate, and we distributed the sample across the strata for workload and analysis considerations. The sample size in table 1 optimizes for some groups, while controlling the distribution across the 24 strata. Specifically, we calculated the Neyman optimal sample size that resulted in an overall 5 percent margin of error for an attribute estimate. We allocated samples across strata to achieve precision goals at two levels: overall population percentage estimates with margins of errors within plus or minus 5 percentage points, and subpopulation percentage estimates (i.e. school type, minority level, locale, or participation group) with margins of errors within plus or minus 10 percentage points, both at the 95 percent confidence level. Additionally, we ensured a minimum sample of 10 schools in every stratum.

Based solely on the constraint of an overall margin of error within plus or minus 5 percentage points, some reporting groups were expected to have margins of errors that were less than 10 percentage points without the need of additional explicit constraints. For other reporting groups, we implemented constraints so that the designed margin of error was within plus or minus 10 percentage points. Specifically, we included the following constraints for margins of error of attribute estimates with 95 percent confidence intervals within each reporting group, for a realized response rate of 60 percent: margins of error within plus or minus 5 percentage points overall, within plus or minus 10 percentage points for urban schools, within plus or minus 10 percentage points for high minority schools, within plus or minus 10 percentage points for charter schools.

Because we followed a probability procedure based on random selections, our sample is only one of a large number of samples that we might have drawn. Since each sample could have provided different estimates, we expressed our confidence in the precision of our particular sample’s results as a 95 percent confidence interval (e.g., plus or minus 7 percentage points). This is the interval that would contain the actual population value for 95 percent of the samples we could have drawn. Unless otherwise noted, all percentage estimates in this report have confidence intervals within plus or minus 7.7 percentage points. For other estimates, the confidence intervals or margins of error are presented along with the estimates themselves.

We took several steps to minimize non-sampling error. We used several methods to identify the names and email addresses of the athletics administrators for our selected sample of schools. In some states, the high school associations had directories we used to obtain this information. For those that did not, we searched the school’s website or called the school or district. We administered the survey from June through early September 2017. To obtain the maximum number of responses to our survey, we sent e-mails to the principals of the schools in the sample prior to the survey’s launch, asking them to support and encourage their athletics administrator to complete the survey. We also worked with the National Federation of State High School Associations to have the state associations e-mail their members and encourage them to participate in the survey. Finally, we sent direct reminder emails to nonrespondents and contacted nonrespondents over the telephone.

We took additional steps to minimize non-sampling errors, including pretesting draft instruments and using a web-based administration system. During survey development, we met with officials from national groups representing high school activities associations and athletics administrators and held discussion groups with nine athletics administrators to explore the feasibility of responding to the survey questions. We then pretested the draft instrument from April through May 2017 with five athletics administrators in public high schools that were diverse across a range of characteristics, such as region, school type and locale, and minority enrollment. In the pretests, we asked about the clarity of the questions and the flow and layout of the survey. A survey specialist independent of the project team within GAO also reviewed a draft of the questionnaire prior to its administration. Based on feedback from the pretests and the independent review, we made revisions to the survey instrument. To further minimize non-sampling errors, we used a web- based survey, which allowed respondents to enter their responses directly into an electronic instrument. Using this method automatically created a record for each respondent in a data file and eliminated the errors associated with a manual data entry process.

Despite these efforts, like most surveys, our survey had nonresponse. Specifically, the weighted response rate was 42 percent. Survey nonresponse raises the possibility that those athletics administrators who did respond to the survey may not be representative of the intended population, due to nonresponse bias. We carried out a nonresponse bias analysis and identified three potential factors that may have been related to athletics administrators’ propensity to respond: school concentration of minority students, school size, and region. In order to adjust for the potential nonresponse bias, we adjust the sampling weight with a nonresponse adjustment to form a final weight. Data analyzed using the final, nonresponse-adjusted sampling weight is assumed to be missing at random, given the nonresponse adjustments, and therefore unbiased for the intended population. We used response propensity weighting class adjustments based on a model that included the variables identified in the nonresponse bias analysis. We conducted our analysis using survey software that accounted for the sample design and weighting.

Survey Follow-Up Interviews

To gain further insights into factors that encourage or discourage participation in sports, schools’ efforts to encourage equal opportunities, and the role of the Title IX coordinator, we conducted follow-up interviews with 8 athletics administrators, chosen from the 105 who had responded to our survey as of late August and indicated that they were willing to participate in a follow-up discussion on their responses. Specifically, we selected respondents to obtain diversity in their responses to a few key survey questions, as well as certain characteristics of their schools. In making our selections, we considered their responses to survey questions on: their awareness of their Title IX Coordinator, activities their schools conducted within the last two years to encourage equal opportunities for boys and girls in sports, and whether the school maintains expenditure data on sports and their willingness to share these data.

We identified school characteristics with the data sources used to create our survey sampling frame. The characteristics we considered to further narrow our selection were: school type (charter or traditional), school locale (urban, suburban, or rural), concentration of minority students (low-, mid-, or high-minority).

Additionally, we reviewed open-ended responses in the survey to determine if there were answers that necessitated additional discussion or clarification (see table 2).

In our interviews with the athletics administrator at each school, which we conducted by phone, we asked officials to describe their relationship with their Title IX coordinator, familiarity with Title IX requirements overall, and their familiarity with state and local guidance, specifically. We also asked them to describe their efforts to encourage equal opportunities in sports and the nature of challenges they have faced in doing so. In addition, we asked them about funding sources and their use of expenditure data, the role of booster clubs, and the role of outside funding. For each school where the athletics administrator reported that they had expenditure data, we requested a copy of these data. We obtained expenditure data from three schools. In some cases we obtained additional documentation such as booster club guidelines, processes for adding school sports, and participation data. Because we selected the schools for follow-up interviews judgmentally and only conducted eight interviews we cannot generalize our findings about their policies, practices, and challenges.

Review of Law, Regulations, and Guidance and Interviews with Education Officials

To understand the requirements for providing equal athletic opportunities in public high schools and how Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) monitors and supports public school districts in meeting these requirements, we reviewed Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments (Title IX), Education’s Title IX regulations, and related guidance documents. We also interviewed OCR and other Education officials.

In addition, we reviewed selected research studies that provided context and insight into factors affecting high school sports participation.

Interviews with Subject Matter Specialists

To obtain additional context and insights, we selected and interviewed subject matter specialists, including researchers and officials from advocacy groups and associations. We selected these subject specialists so that, together with the athletics administrators we surveyed and interviewed, they would provide a variety of perspectives on factors that affect boys’ and girls’ participation in high school sports and approaches schools use to encourage equal athletic opportunities. The researchers and officials we interviewed were located at: the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center at the University of Michigan, the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois,

National Women’s Law Center,

Women’s Sports Foundation,

National Interscholastic Athletics Administrators Association

National Federation of State High School Associations, and

Association of Title IX Administrators.

We conducted this performance audit from February 2017 to May 2018 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Appendix II: Survey of Public High School Athletics Administrators

The questions we asked in our survey of public high school athletics administers, as well as definitions used, are shown below. The blanks in the survey were filled in with the name of each athletics administrator’s school. Some questions were only asked if the athletics administrator responded a certain way to a prior question.

Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgements

GAO Contact

Staff Acknowledgements

In addition to the individual named above, Bill MacBlane (Assistant Director), Lauren Gilbertson and Jamila Jones Kennedy (Analysts-in- Charge), Christina S. Cantor, MacKenzie Cooper, Jill Lacey, Benjamin Sinoff, Andrew Stavisky, Sonya Vartivarian, and Khristi Wilkins made key contributions to this report. Also contributing to this report were James Bennett, Deborah Bland, Barbara Bovbjerg, Randy De Leon, Holly Dye, David Forgosh, Amy MacDonald, and Sheila R. McCoy.

Related GAO Products

K-12 Education: High School Sports Access and Participation. GAO-17-754R. Washington, D.C.: September 14, 2017.

Child Welfare: Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Sexual Abuse by School Personnel. GAO-14-42. Washington, D.C.: January 27, 2014.

K-12 Education: School-Based Physical Education and Sports Programs. GAO-12-350. Washington, D.C.: February 29, 2012.