Gender Based EducationGender Based Education

Gender BiasGender Bias

Gender affects the quantity and quality of students’ communication with teachers

Studies consistently show that boys have more interaction with teachers than girls, with the difference being greatest for disciplinary exchanges and smallest for instructional ones

Subject matter can affect teachers’ treatment of boys and girls

Studies have shown that typically, girls have a higher percentage of academic contact with teachers in reading, and boys in math and science

Gender-Based InstructionGender-Based Instruction

Research has shown that girls and boys do not perform differently prior to the sixth grade in the areas of math and science

The separation in achievement in these areas begins in middle school and continues into high school and college and may be significant in occupational choices that young men and women make later in life

Single Gender Educational Single Gender Educational BenefitsBenefits

Research from the Harvard School of Education and the American Association of University Women indicates that instructors in coed classrooms give more attention to boys

Boys are called on four times more often, asked more challenging questions, and praised more frequently

Researchers confirm that by senior year, students at single gender schools excel beyond their coed peers in the areas of reading, writing, and science

Overall graduates of women’s high schools are more satisfied with their schools and the quality of the teaching, more open-minded about their roles and possibilities, and relieved of some of the social pressures of adolescence (Women’s Schools Together, Inc.)

Why a Girls-Only Middle School?Why a Girls-Only Middle School?

The middle-school years are a critical transition in a girl’s life

Conflicting messages about femininity and achievement, peer pressure, and the need to “fit in” often erode self-confidence and strong self-image

Research shows that in most coed classrooms, both curriculum and teacher expectations consistently favor boys, particularly in math and science

At a girls-only middle school, girls have the opportunity to receive all of the teacher’s attention, assume all of the leadership roles, and have greater opportunities to participate in all aspects of school life

Students’ Perceptions of Students’ Perceptions of Gender-Based InstructionGender-Based Instruction

Girls report feeling that they could speak out in their all-girl classes because they don’t need to appear “dumb” to make the boys look good

They also don’t feel the need to try to impress the boys with cute remarks

Boys also report that they feel more focused on their studies without the need to impress girls

EffectivenessEffectiveness

Boys and girls, when taught together, are more interested in how they look and appear to each other than they are in what is being taught in the classroom

This is classically a middle school phenomenon and can be acutely improved upon by gender grouping

Since boys and girls begin to perform differently on standardized tests in the areas of science and math at this stage of their educational development, it follows that gender based teaching may be a vary valuable tool at the middle school level in keeping the playing field level

It may not be necessary to gender group after the middle school years, if the structure of gender bias can be dissolved in the middle school years