THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9412310262
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: REWRITING THE LESSON PLAN
SINGLE-SEX SCHOOLING
The debate over separating the sexes in the classroom.
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Judy Grumbacher, a physics teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, writes her students' names on flash cards. During class discussions, she'll discard them one by one as each student takes part.
She wants to make sure girls in the class get called on as often as boys, who are more prone to blurt out answers, monopolize debate and demand the teacher's attention.
Grumbacher employs the technique to eliminate the often subtle and insidious signals that researchers say are undermining the confidence and achievement of girls in public schools across America.
And nowhere, studies show, is the problem of gender bias more apparent than in math and science, fields traditionally dominated by males.
Thomas Jefferson, a magnet school in Fairfax County, has attacked the problem of gender bias head on.
Rather than segregating girls, which Principal Geoffrey Jones views as skirting the issue, the schools attempt to isolate and remove the biases.
Two years ago, his school began workshops in which teachers learn how to get students to work together in teams and eliminate the competitiveness that drives many boy-dominated classrooms.
Teachers also are trained to detect the often unconscious ways they slight girls and reinforce outdated or stereotypical roles of females in society. Above all, teachers leave the sessions aware that they must strive to give girls the same attention and respect as boys.
``Vigilant is the word,'' Grumbacher says.
Even at a school like Thomas Jefferson, where students typically score in the top 3 percent nationwide on standardized tests, girls said they often feel intimidated by boys in class. Some said they are reluctant to ask questions or offer answers for fear of embarrassing themselves.
But girls, who comprise about 40 percent of student enrollment, aren't clamoring for classes of their own.
``I think that teachers call on you equally, and they want everybody to participate,'' said ninth-grader Gazzena Soni, 14.
``You're going to have to work in groups in the real world, and if it means you're going to have to work with males more aggressive than you, then that's just what you're going to have to do,'' said senior Sally Chadbourn, 17.
The school two years ago considered experimenting with an all-girls physics class but abandoned the idea because of lack of student interest.
The school instead created a separate class for struggling students - a group with more girls in it. Teachers emphasized hands-on learning in small groups. On the final exam, the weaker students scored as well as stronger students taught by the traditional lecture method.
``Teaching techniques are a powerful tool, much more powerful than separating the sexes,'' Jones said.
Chadbourn is a case in point: She went from barely passing a physics class taught in the lecture style to earning an A in a physics class in which students were divided into work and study groups.
``We weren't covering as much material or moving as quickly, but I still remember everything I learned, whereas in the other class it was in one ear and out the other,'' Chadbourn said.
While teachers were taught how to avoid gender bias, the school began offering girls-only counseling programs to encourage them to take higher-level math and science courses and to expose them to nontraditional career options and female role models.
The effort has paid off: Since 1992, the school has nearly doubled the number of girls taking advanced calculus, and increased their presence in advanced chemistry by 20 percent.
This year, 89 girls and 159 boys are enrolled in advanced calculus classes; four years ago, 56 girls were in the class. This year, almost as many girls as boys - 43 and 49, respectively - are taking higher-level chemistry.
``Our society traditionally has not pictured girls in certain roles, and this helps girls to see that their choices may be broader than they would have considered,'' said Eleanor Saslaw, a school guidance counselor.
The role-busting effort has produced an interesting spinoff, Saslaw said. More boys are now taking ``softer'' science courses traditionally taken by girls, such as biology.
Proponents of single-sex education, including women who have attended private single-sex secondary schools or colleges, say the experience helps girls become assertive and self-confident. But Jones wonders about the long-term benefits, if society doesn't change to ensure true equality between the sexes.
``Within five years of leaving high school and two years of leaving college, a young woman is not only going to find herself in a mixed setting, but also in one that's probably biased against her,'' Jones said. ``Clearly, what we need to do is to help young women and young men to change that setting and work together.''
To separate public schoolrooms by gender is unrealistic, since society isn't segregated that way, Jones argues.
``We're not preparing simply young women, but people, for careers,'' Jones said. ``The message you'd send to boys if you separate the girls is that the ideas these other people have are of limited value.'' MEMO: ELIMINATING GENDER BIAS
Drawing from a variety of sources, math teachers at Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and Technology compiled a list to help teachers
identify and eliminate gender bias. A sampling:
What To Look For
Factors that can influence the performance of girls:
Boys seem to need to attract the teacher's attention first and
foremost and are less concerned than girls in answering correctly.
When girls are recognized, they rarely get to say more than a
sentence or two before a boy interrupts and takes over.
A girl may attempt to volunteer a second time, but if she is again
interrupted, she tends to withdraw.
When a girl proposes a new idea, it generally is ignored until a boy
states the same idea.
Generally, boys learn better than girls in a competitive setting.
Girls and boys learn equally well in a cooperative setting.
Girls perform better on tests that are open-ended in nature - essay,
short answer or performance. Boys perform better on multiple-choice
tests.
What Can Be Done: Tips For Educators
Allow time for many students to raise their hands before calling on a
student for an answer. Ask someone to record your classroom
interaction.
Ask yourself:
Do you ask both boys and girls the same kind of questions -
comprehension, probing, analytical, evaluative, synthesizing?
Do you commend girls as well as boys for their efforts?
Do you provide adequate role models in your curriculum for both girls
and boys? Are norms established that do not limit any child's
aspirations or self-concept?
Do you encourage noncontributors to express their thoughts?
Are classroom activities divided on a nongender basis? Do boys and
girls operate the technical and computer equipment?
Do you encourage boys and girls to work together in cooperative
groups and do all students have the chance to assume leadership roles?
ILLUSTRATION: -Geoffrey A. Jones, principal
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION SINGLE-SEX CLASSROOMS GENDER BIAS by CNB