This Handbook Project, whose goal is to strategically place this Handbook in every school in Rhode Island, began at the November 19, 1996 membership meeting of the Educators Colloquium on Gender Equity. From its inception, the project focused on teachers developing the sample (exemplar) curriculum lessons/units for the handbook.

The intent of the Handbook is that it be a "living document" that will be routinely updated. For this reason, the "Gender Equity Handbook," as it has become known by its creators, is designed for a three-ring binder to be distributed to schools.

During the Spring of 1997, Rose Marie Cipriano, Educators Colloquium Co-Chair, Dr. Vivian Morgan, RIC associate professor of mathematics and a member of the Colloquium, and Dr. Nancy Sullivan, associate professor of educational leadership and curriculum at RIC, worked on submitting a grant proposal for funding from the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Nancy Warren, RIDE Gender Equity Specialist, provided appropriate technical assistance and the grant was approved.

A five-day working conference was held at Rhode Island College, June 23-27, 1997, to begin the development of sample lessons on gender equity by content-specific areas, across all content areas, and at all grade levels. The keynote speaker was Kathryn Wheeler from Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. The conference participants worked in teams to initiate the planning for the Handbook content, and were provided with guidelines for completion of their respective lessons and/or sections.

A team from this summer institute provided a workshop presentation at the November 20-21, 1997 25th Anniversary Celebration of Title IX Conference sponsored by the Educators Colloquium, the Region I Desegregation Center, the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Rhode Island Commission on Women.

Three intensive workshops were organized by the Co-Directors and held at Rhode College on January 14^th, January 31^st, and February 28^th 1998. Forty-four participants (17 classroom teachers, 2 retired guidance counselors, 1 school nurse, 11 RIC faculty members, 3 school principals 2 elementary and I high school, 1 substitute teacher, and 9 student teachers) worked to develop approximately 120 lessons for inclusion in the Infusing Equity by Gender Handbook.

Excerpts from the Handbook were presented to the Educators Colloquium at a general membership meeting on March 18, 1998. Based on these materials, the continuation of the project was unanimously approved, with distribution to Rhode Island schools targeted for Fall 1998.