Ashley and Jennings

Annotations:

• Use the Note Area to cite sources of information you found. Click the upper right corner of the box to make the note pad appear, then type.

1. Level 2: Sources Before 2010. In the bubbles below, record the main idea of each of the five articles we read for the discussion posts. Use dates in APA style.
   1. The main idea of the Greene article is that there is inequality between boys and girls, and it's the teacher's job to fix it.

      Annotations:

      • Greene. "Sexism in the Schools" from "Landscapes of Learning". 1978.
      1. Inequalities are due to societal traditions.
      2. Creating mental freedom is the first step to change the sexist mentality.
   2. Sara Mead's, "The Problem with Gender-Based Education", was mostly about bashing Sax and Gurian's research on gender-based education.

      Annotations:

      • Note the citation here - it is APA style.  The author's last name and the date of the article/book.  Then at the end, you would have a list of references in APA style that would include the name of the article/book - like what most of you did for your biography project.
      1. Recommended ability-based grouping over gender-based
      2. She questioned their research because it didn't have factual basis
   3. In the article by USA Today, they said that boys aren't getting the education that they need.

      Annotations:

      • Whitmire, "Pay Closer Attention: Boys are Struggling Academically". USA Today. 2010.  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2004-12-02-boys-girls-academics_x.htm#
      1. Society has changed in a way that helps girls, so it appears that boys are falling behind.
      2. "It surely won't be fixed until educators first come to see that it exists." (Same argument as Greene)
   4. In "The Truth About Boys and Girls" by Sara Mead, she said that boys are not actually doing worse, but girls are just improving at a faster rate.

      Annotations:

      • Mead, 2006.
      1. She believes that more research should be done before we claim there is a "boy crisis".
   5. In the article by Wellesley College, they said that girls aren't getting the education that they deserve.

      Annotations:

      • Wellesley College, 1992.
      1. You can see this in inequalities in the workplace.
      2. Women hold more higher level degrees than men, but men have more higher level jobs.
2. Level 2: Sources After 2010. Choose 5 of the 8 new articles I provided, or search the web for others. Any combination is also fine. In the bubbles below, record the main idea of each.
   1. In the article by Brenneman (2013), he says that schools perceive boys to cause more trouble in class than girls, but this is false.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2013/06/asian_boys_beat_american_boys_at_behavior.html?qs=girls+and+boys
      1. Asian countries showed no significant gender differences.
      2. In the U.S., girls did show better control over their behavior than boys.
   2. The Heiten article (2014) says that girls are being stereotyped in science classes.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2014/03/study_science_teachers_inadver.html?cmp=ENL-CM-NEWS2
      1. Boys are getting more attention.
      2. Girls and boys are achieving at the same level.
   3. The Robelen article (March 2013) says that girls are better at reading and guys are better at math.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/03/math_achievement_gap_for_girls.html?qs=boys+and+girls
      1. To fix this, we must find the source of the academic gap.
      2. Cites NAEP and PISA data
   4. The Segal article (2013) says that guys do better on the SAT because of the risk-taking factor of the test.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/reimagining/2013/07/The_SATs_Gender_Gap.html?qs=girls+and+boys
      1. This causes a gap between the scores of girls and guys.
      2. The test should be changed to close this gap.
   5. The Mead article (2013) said that although girls do better than boys academically, girls are under-represented in many of the best places for higher education.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/sarameads_policy_notebook/2013/03/should_we_care_about_gender_composition_at_new_yorks_elite_public_schools.html?qs=girls+and+boys
      1. This could be because girls are not as good at math, and many entrance exams focus on math.
3. Level 1: At least three connections go in bubbles on this level. What have you found to remain the same throughout both time periods (before 2010 and after 2010) concerning girls' and boys' ed? Write these connections in boxes/bubbles on this level.

   Annotations:

   • Here is where you show evidence of your thinking. Connect the pieces about boys and girls' education that you have found to be the same in sources before 2010 (which we read for the discussions) and in sources you found dated after 2010.
   1. Many of the scholars agree that changes need to be made to the educational system in order to successfully accomodate the gender-based learning differences.
      1. Greene was very clear that to achieve our educational goals, "we need to discover new fusions of what have been thought of as male and female characteristics", and by doing so, "we may all rediscover ourselves". (Greene, 1978)
      2. Segal brought up many discrepancies in the standardized SAT test, and is arguing that it be changed "to make sure the test is fair". (Segal, 2013)
   2. Many scholars agree that more research needs to be done into this subject in order to fully understand whether or not classes need to be changed to help one or the other gender.
      1. Sara Mead's article, "The Problem with Gender-Based Education", tore apart a recent research study involving gender-based education. She says that what they call "brain research" is still in early stages, and says it is "a long way from being able to support practical applications in education". This shows how little we know about this subject, but that we are definitely in the right direction. (Mead, 2008)
      2. In Robelen's article, he says that researchers are looking to figure out why there is a math and reading gap in girls and boys, because they think this understanding will help to get rid of them. Like Mead's article (cited above), the more we know, the better we can help our children. (Robelen, 2013)
   3. Many of the scholars agree that there are inherent differences in the way we teach boys and girls.
      1. Whitmire says that girls naturally have better verbal skills than boys. He goes on to say that there are "biological differences between how girls and boys learn". (Whitmire, 2010)
      2. Greene found that girls and boys respond to situations differently, and that girls "do better on tasks defined as "feminine," just as boys do better on "masculine" tasks". (Greene, 1978)
4. Level 3: What differences in the updated information did you find? Compare articles dated after 2010 to those dated before 2010. Record at least three.
   1. In talking about how girls and boys approach challenges differently, Greene said that girls do better on "feminine" tasks while boys do better on "masculine" tasks, and that girls think it is masculine to work hard on something or achieve too much. Conversely, Heitin's research shows that in a science classroom, boys are more engaged when given a challenge, while girls feel more stress.
      1. Maybe the student's success is less about whether the task is feminine or masculine, but about their natural reactions to the challenges of the task.
   2. Sara Mead questions whether or not the math and science influenced entrance exams for elite schools keeps girls from applying, but according to her other article, "The Truth About Boys and Girls", she says that girls are now more likely to take higher-level math and science classes than boys while in high school.

      Annotations:

      • http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/sarameads_policy_notebook/2013/03/should_we_care_about_gender_composition_at_new_yorks_elite_public_schools.html?qs=girls+and+boys
      1. This seems contradictory. If more girls are taking math and science classes in high school, why would they be intimidated by math and science entrance exams?
   3. Sara Mead argued that girls scores are consistently lower than boys on the SAT in part because "more girls than boys take the SAT", because girls are more likely to go to college. Tom Segal gave a different reason for this problem, that the "gender gap results from the construction of the SAT itself".

      Annotations:

      • "The Truth About Boys and Girls", (page 11) Sara Mead, June 2006
      1. The SAT is written so that a correct answer is +1, incorrect is -0.25, and no answer is 0. Segal argues that boys are naturally risk-takers, so if they "are more prone to guessing at a question they cannot answer and girls are prone to skipping the same question, this would skew test results in favor of boys".
   4. Level 4: Look at sources dated after 2010 that your group found for this week's discussion posts. On this level, show at least two likenesses (to the right) and two differences(to the left) you found as you studied these and ANY other works we have studied in the course. Cite your findings.
      1. In the article "Gender Specific Toys 'Put Girls Off' Maths and Science, Says Education Minister" (2014), Paton claims that girls are subtly being dissuaded from pursuing careers in math and sciences due to the toys they are instructed to play with.

         Annotations:

         • Graeme Paton, 2014.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10578106/Gender-specific-toys-put-girls-off-maths-and-science.html
         1. This connects to Robelen's article which claims that the gender gap in math persists, because the above article offers a possible reason for it.
      2. In the article "Study: Wide Political Knowledge Gap Exists Between Men and Women" (2013), the author claims that women are less politically aware than men.

         Annotations:

         • Greg Otto, 2013.  http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/07/02/study-wide-political-knowledge-gap-exists-between-men-and-women
         1. This contrasts with "The Truth About Boys and Girls" which claims that in subjects related to politics, such as U.S. History and Geography, girls hold their own.

            Annotations:

            • Mead, 2006.
      3. In the article "Study: TED Conference's 'Most Inspired Thinkers' Overwhelmingly Men," the author states that many of the TED talk speakers are overwhelmingly male, and that they struggle to find female speakers even though more females are college graduates.

         Annotations:

         • Jason Koebler, 2013 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/06/18/study-ted-conferences-most-inpired-thinkers-overwhelmingly-men
         1. This is similar to Mead's "Should We Care About Gender Composition at New York's Elite Public Schools'" because she states that although there are more female graduates, men are overrepresented in professional level jobs. She also states in "The Truth About Boys and Girls."
      4. Level 5: What conclusion(s) have you drawn about girls and boys' education as a result of synthesizing all you have read for this assignment?
         1. Just like in the multicultural articles, it doesn't make sense to treat a child differently based on physical differences, like gender or race. We should teach kids based on what they need.

            Annotations:

            • http://www.hereiswhereifound.com.  A notation needs to be on each of your bubbles in this area - support what you believe!  For example, you could refer to something in "Savage Inequalities", in which case you would write: (Kozol, 1991)
            • Delpit, 2007. "Education in a Multicultural Society: Our Future's Greatest Challenge".
            1. I think Greene phrases it well when he says that "the kind of teaching that does indeed close off openings in experience..cannot conceivably be effectual teaching".

               Annotations:

               • Greene, 1978.
         2. Before jumping the gun and trying out new methods of gender-based education, we should do more research so we have a better idea of the alleged differences between the genders.

            Annotations:

            • Adams, 2013. (Adams, Caralee. "A Closer Look at Why More Women Than Men Are Going to College". 2013.)
         3. Instead of catering to students based solely on gender, teachers should tailor their curriculum to their student's individual academic abilities. Sara Mead addressed this issue by promoting "increased customization and multi-age groupings".

            Annotations:

            • Mead, "The Problem With Gender-Based Education", 2008
      5. In the article "Study: TED Conference's 'Most Inspired Thinkers' Overwhelmingly Men," the author states that it is easier to find scholarly men to give speeches than scholarly women.

         Annotations:

         • Jason Koebler, 2013 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/06/18/study-ted-conferences-most-inpired-thinkers-overwhelmingly-men
         1. This contrasts with the belief of Whitmire in "Pay Closer Attention: Boys are Struggling Academically" who claims that girls have better natural verbal skills. Using his argument, would it not make sense that more girls could be found?