

Teaching boys and girls separately - mhb
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/magazine/02sex3-t.html?ex=1362027600&en=2c738e5956dd2eeb&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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Prrometheus
Good skeptical analysis:

<http://reason.com/blog/show/125292.html>

"Giedd suggests a thought experiment: Imagine trying to assign a population of
students to the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms based solely on height. As boys
tend to be taller than girls, one would assign the tallest 50 percent of the
students to the boys’ locker room and the shortest 50 percent of the students
to the girls’ locker room. What would happen? While you’d end up with a
better-than-random sort, the results would be abysmal, with unacceptably large
percentages of students in the wrong place. Giedd suggests the same is true
when educators use gender alone to assign educational experiences for kids.
Yes, you’ll get more students who favor cooperative learning in the girls’
room, and more students who enjoy competitive learning in the boys’, but you
won’t do very well. Says Giedd, “There are just too many exceptions to the
rule.”"

Of course, given that public schools often use the “one size fits all”
criteria to sort educational experiences, perhaps gender sorting is a step up
(and one that bureaucracies can understand).

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pixcavator
I agree! It's interesting but he doesn't seem to realize what his alternative
in this thought experiment is. It's a co-ed locker room!

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pixcavator
Can’t help it but here’s another thought. He thought experiment is upside
down! The subject of discussion is whether it makes sense to try to figure out
person’s traits or abilities based on his/her gender. He is talking about how
hard it is to figure out person’s gender based on the height (or a trait).
Totally opposite! The right question should be: can you estimate person’s
height based on gender? The result would be much more positive.

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bct
Interesting stuff. I wonder, though:

> 62\. In Why Gender Matters, Dr. Sax explains that "anomalous males" -- boys
> who like to read, who don't enjoy competitive sports or rough-and-tumble
> play, and who don't have a lot of close male friends -- should be firmly
> disciplined, should spend as much time as possible with "normal males," and
> should be made to play competitive sports.

Source:
[http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/womensrights/20060801seldencomplain...](http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/womensrights/20060801seldencomplaint.pdf)

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pchristensen
As an "anomalous male" according to that definition, I'm pretty sure that
would have made me hate everything and go on a killing spree. Certainly
wouldn't have helped me learn.

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aneesh
My high school created a separate CS class for girls (girls could be in the
"boys" CS class, but not vice-versa). It was a flop by all accounts.

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albertcardona
I have met men who where schooled in boys-only schools. Without exception (so
far), their social skills are very low. Particularly with women,
unsurprisingly.

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cvx
One of the most charismatic persons I know was educated in a boys-only school.
He's married now, but he definitely has _no_ problems talking with women. Many
boys from boy-only schools tend to hang out around girl-only schools so that
actually ameliorate the effect.

I personally feel co-education is the way to go but just pointing out it's not
a general rule.

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curi
What's next, age segregation?

