1. Boys and Girls Learn Differently By Trisha-Ann Matthew Education 702.22 Seminar in Applied Theory and Research 1 Spring 2010

2. Introduction Statement of the Problem Review of Literature Research Hypothesis Participants Instruments References Appendices

3. The underachievement of elementary boys in literacy is a problem. The majority of boys at P.S. X are unengaged during literacy instruction. What is the cause of this problem? Do we blame nature, nurture, teachers and parents expectations or the boys themselves. This research will attempt to answer the questions: Does gender matters in teaching? Should boys and girls be taught differently in order to better engage boys?

5.  “Boys are achieving less because boys are resistant to the curriculum that is being taught, whereas the girls are compliant (Hodgetts, 2007).  “If you turn up the heat, the boys go to sleep, they get sluggish and their eyelids get heavy. If you keep it just a little chilly, the boys learn better”(Sax, 2006, p. 193).

6.  “regarding learning, the most effective teacher-pupil combination is female-female and the least effective is a female instructor and a male pupil”(Klein, 2004, p. 185).  The Gurian institute believes, “Schools are run counter to how boys learn and how their brains operate. The language of girls’ brains develop earlier, so reading and writing comes easier to them, while boys’ brains are better at spatial-mechanical tasks and males learn better when they are active”(Delisio, 2006).

7.  “Girls are born with a sense of hearing significantly more sensitive than boys’, particularly at higher frequencies”(Sax, 2006, p. 191).  “Male and female eyes are not organized in the same way. The composition of the male eye makes it attuned to motion and direction. Boys interpret the world as objects in space. The teacher should move around the classroom” (Chadwell, n.d.).

8.  “Boys in poor and working-class populations are at an immediate disadvantage in school”(Wiens, 2006, p. 17).  “ There is a danger ahead for boys because many do not see men in their homes, their early childhood schools, or even their primary schools”(Lingard & Mills,2009).

9.  “Boys are punished for homework and grades are lower because of behavior unrelated to learning and knowledge “(Coates & Draves, 2006, p.6).  “Girls are perceived as better-behaved, which gives them an advantage when teachers evaluate their achievement ”(Extrom, 1994).

10.  South Carolina second grade teachers Garneau and Gamble are convinced that segregating elementary-age boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement-in both genders(Kaufman, n.d.).  “Boys need to play an active role in the learning process or else their loose interest. Learning through action and involvement, rather than through traditional academic tasks such as reading, listening and copying”(Hodgetts, 2008, p. 468).  Twelve-year old Brett Landsberger, “ We can express ourselves better”(Rivera, 2006).

11.  “Children taught by women-both boys and girls alike-were more inclined to show positive attitudes towards school than their peers taught by men” (Tymms, Merrell &Carrington, 2006, p. 317).  “We can all learn together: Single-sex classes are trendy, but there's scant evidence that they improve academic achievement”(Rivers & Barnett 2006).

12.  “Being with more girls is good for everybody. Boys and girls do better when there are more girls in the class”(Science Daily, 2008).  “No significant difference in mathematics achievement that can be attributed to gender or class composition. However, scores in school-based English improved for students in single-gender classes. Improvement for girls in single-gender classes was greater than that for boys in single-gender classes” (Mulholland & Kaminski, 2004, p. 31).

14. The students selected for this action research attend fourth-grade in P.S. X in Brooklyn New York. P.S. X is a Title 1 school in Brooklyn New York.

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