Title IX Compliance in Virginia High Schools

Abstract

More than thirty years ago Congress passed the Educational Amendments to ensure fair treatment for all students. Specifically, Title IX provided that [N]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance (Educational Amendments of 1972,p. 7). The number of court cases against colleges and high schools for violating various aspects of Title IX continues to increase. This study looked at court cases involving high school and college athletes claiming violations of Title IX, then six schools were selected in Virginia to determine if these schools met the legal standards, as determined by the Code of Federal Regulations.

An analysis of judicial opinions for cases on Title IX formed the foundation of this study. The six schools were visited, records reviewed, principals, and coaches were interviewed

The information and data gathered from site visits and interviews as well as the statistical data generated by the statistical software were used to determine if these schools were in compliance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972.