Re: math equality in genders

[gbracey1@verizon.net]

 Also, Idoubt seriously if any of the peoplemaking these comments have 
any real idea of what "critical thinking" might be.

JB


On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at  6:13 PM, MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net wrote:

> This appeared as an AP story on my web browser--and they just took it 
> off! I can't find the URL. I'll look for it.
>
> Joe
>  -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: gbracey1@verizon.net
> >   Joe, where did this appear?
> >
> > This is a fascinating area and I wish I had more time to explore it. 
> > I can say without doubt, Janet Hyde's hypothesis about girls' SAT 
> > being lower because there are more girls in college is WRONG.  When 
> > the College Board released "On Further Examination" in 1977, they 
> > found that women socred 55 points lower than men in 1960 and 52 
> > points lower in 1977.  The percentage of women taking the test was 
> > 42.7 in 1960, 47.5 in 1977.
> >
> > After that, it gets more complicated and more fascinating.  In 
> > international comparisons, girls consistently outscore boys in 
> > reading and usually by sizeable amounts.  In TIMSS 8th grad math, 
> > only in 14 of 45 countries do boys outscore girls.  Most of the 
> > differences within countries are very, very, small.  And the three 
> > largest are Tunisia, 24 points favoring boys, Jordan 27 points and 
> > Bahrain 33 points, both favoring girls.  I can't help but think this 
> > has something to do with sampling, although none of the countries are 
> > cited by TIMSS as not meeting samplying requirements or testing the 
> > appropriate population.
> >
> > In TIMSS 8th grade science, only 10 of 45 countries have scores 
> > favoring girls.
> >
> > Jerry
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at  4:42 PM, monicalucido@comcast.net wrote:
> >
> > > Ok, here's another one. I really like the line that states we need 
> > > to have tests with "more critical thinking questions". These people 
> > > just might have their heads too far up their rears. The real world 
> > > requires REAL problem solving. Making a longer, harder test is not 
> > > going to solve whatever "competitive" issues there may be (and 
> > > that's already been debated hotly today and yesterday). Once again, 
> > > any opinions on the validity of this study?
> >
> > Math study finds girls are just as good as boys
> > 2 hours ago
> > 35 Recommendations
> > WASHINGTON ��� Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class 
> > is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just 
> > as tough as boys. In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up 
> > to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was 
> > released Thursday in the journal Science.
> >
> > Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at 
> > math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher 
> > who led the study. And girls who grow up believing it wind up 
> > avoiding harder math classes.
> >
> > "It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly 
> > high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology," Hyde 
> > said.
> >
> > That's changing, though slowly.
> >
> > Women are now earning 48 percent of undergraduate college degrees in 
> > math; they still lag far behind in physics and engineering.
> >
> > But in primary and secondary school, girls have caught up, with 
> > researchers attributing that advance to increasing numbers of girls 
> > taking advanced math classes such as calculus.
> >
> > Hyde and her colleagues looked at annual math tests required by the 
> > No Child Left Behind education law in 2002. Ten states provided 
> > enough statistical information to review test scores by gender, 
> > allowing researchers to compare the performances of more than 7 
> > million children.
> >
> > The researchers found no difference in the scores of boys versus 
> > girls ��� not even in high school. Studies 20 years ago showed girls 
> > and boys did equally well on math in elementary school, but girls 
> > fell behind in high school.
> >
> > "Girls have now achieved gender parity in performance on standardized 
> > math tests," Hyde said.
> >
> > The stereotype that boys are better at math has been fueled, at least 
> > in part, by suggestions of biological differences in the way little 
> > boys and little girls learn. This idea is hotly disputed; Lawrence 
> > Summers, then the president of Harvard, was castigated in 2005 when 
> > he questioned the "intrinsic aptitude" of women for top-level math 
> > and science.
> >
> > Joy Lee, a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science 
> > and Technology in Alexandria, Va., says she always felt confident 
> > about math, but remembers how it felt to walk into a science class 
> > full of boys. "Maybe I was a little bit apprehensive about being the 
> > only girl, but that didn't last for very long," said Lee, president 
> > of a school club that tries to get young girls interested in science 
> > and technology, along with engineering and math.
> >
> > "I definitely do encourage other girls to pursue those interests and 
> > to not be scared to take those courses just because there are not 
> > very many girls or because they think they're not good enough to do 
> > it," Lee said.
> >
> > Still, while there are fewer women in science and technology, there 
> > are more women in college overall. To Hyde and her colleagues, that 
> > helps explain why girls consistently score lower on average on the 
> > SAT: More of them take the test, which is needed to get into college. 
> > The highest-performing students of both genders take the test, but 
> > more girls lower on the achievement scale take it, skewing the 
> > average.
> >
> > For the class of 2007, the latest figures available, boys scored an 
> > average of 533 on the math section of the SAT, compared with 499 for 
> > girls.
> >
> > On the ACT, another test on which girls lag slightly, the gender gap 
> > disappeared in Colorado and Illinois once state officials required 
> > all students to take the test.
> >
> > As Hyde and her colleagues looked across the data for states' 
> > testing, they found something they didn't expect: In most states they 
> > reviewed, and at most grade levels, there weren't any questions that 
> > involved complex problem-solving, an ability needed to succeed in 
> > high levels of science and math. If tests don't assess these 
> > reasoning skills, they may not be taught, putting American students 
> > at a disadvantage to students in other countries with more 
> > challenging tests, the researchers said.
> >
> > That might be a glaring omission, said Stephen Camarata, a Vanderbilt 
> > University professor who has researched the issue but was not 
> > involved in the study.
> >
> > "We need to know that, if our measures aren't capturing some aspect 
> > of math that's important," Camarata said. "Then we can decide whether 
> > there's an actual male or female advantage."
> >
> > A panel of experts convened by the Education Department recommended 
> > that state tests be updated to emphasize critical thinking.
> >
> > While some states already have fairly rigorous tests, "we can do a 
> > better job," said Kerri Briggs, the department's assistant secretary 
> > for elementary and secondary education.
> >
> > "If we're going to be globally competitive, we need students who are 
> > able to do higher-level math skills," she said.
> >
> > Back in 1992, Barbie stopped saying math was hard after Mattel 
> > received complaints from, among others, the American Association of 
> > University Women.
> >
> > So far, while her current career choices include baby doctor and 
> > veterinarian ��� and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, too ��� Barbie has 
> > not branched out into technology or engineering.
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