------------Forwarded Message-----------------
A report entitled "The Myth That The Schools Shortchange Girls: Social
Science in the Service of Deception" is available at:
http://www.uaf.edu/northern/schools/myth.html
Below is a short description of the report.
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The Myth That Schools Shortchange Girls: Social Science in the Service of
Deception, by Judith Kleinfeld
Research Report, Womens Freedom Network
Womens advocacy groups have waged an intense media campaign to promote the
idea that the schools shortchange girls. Their sophisticated public
relations campaign has succeeded. The idea that girls are victimized by the
schools has become the common wisdom. In this comprehensive review of the
research on gender differences and educational outcomes, Judith Kleinfeld,
professor of psychology at the University of Alaska, challenges this
stereotype. It is girls who consistently get higher grades in school, she
points out. Girls do dramatically better than boys on standardized tests of
reading achievement and writing skills. The math and science gap in favor of
males is closing while the far greater reading and writing gap in favor of
females is not. Women now form the majority of college students and
African-American women far surpass their male counterparts in success in
higher-education. The much-vaunted gender differences in self-esteem and
classroom participation, Kleinfeld points out, rest on shaky grounds and may
involve outright deception. The report shows how this stereotype infects
day-to-day classroom practice and harms both boys and girls. 72 pp.
CONTACT: Judith Kleinfeld, College of Liberal Arts, University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775. Telephone: 907-474-5266; e-mail
ffjsk@uaf.edu
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Judith Kleinfeld
Director, Northern Studies
Professor of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
Telephone: 907-474-5266
Fax: 907-474-5817
E-mail: ffjsk@aurora.alaska.edu
