Myra Sadker Day Activities

Edeqmod (Edeqmod@edc.org)
Tue, 24 Feb 1998 20:22:49 -0500


Forwarded by Susan J. Smith <edequity-admin@mail.edc.org>
_______________________________________________________________________________

Myra Sadker Advocates for Gender Equity

N E W S R E L E A S E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAVID SADKER
February 26, 1998
301-738-7113

301-229-8483 (evenings)

DSadker@aol.com

www.sadker.org

A Day of Their Own: National Gender Equity Effort Takes Off

Washington, D.C. - Hundreds of American schools and colleges will join forces
on March 5 in a national initiative to end gender bias in education. The
birthday of Myra Sadker, the researcher who documented that girls were
shortchanged in school, launches the national drive.
Dr. Sadker's research, comprehensively reported in Failing at Fairness: How
Our Schools Cheat Girls, documented the subtle but persistent bias dominating
America's classrooms. Dr. Sadker reported that girls' docile behavior
transformed them into classroom spectators, while boys' more aggressive
behavior made them the focus of teacher attention, rewarding them with more
questions and more active instruction. Myra Sadker Advocates, an organization
that promotes gender equity, was established in 1995, the year Dr. Sadker died
while undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
On March 5, from Hawaii to Washington D.C., Myra Sadker Advocates will
sponsor scores of projects to help teachers, parents, and children break
gender stereotypes:
A middle school teacher in the District of Columbia will create "baseball
cards" of famous women.
A geology professor will analyze the new Paleontologist Barbie.
New Moon magazine, a popular publication for 8 to 14 year old girls, will
recognize adults who have advanced equity for children.
A North Carolina class will analyze greeting cards and television shows for
gender bias.
The National Coalition for Girl's Schools will "alert its 160 member schools
to Dr. Sadker's research findings."
A third grade class in California will create and post a timeline on women's
achievements.
An Arizona high school will award a Myra Sadker Scholarship to a girl
interested in math, science or technology.
At a March 5th ceremony at American University, where Myra Sadker was both a
professor and Dean of the School of Education, Dr. Anne Bryant, executive
director of the National School Boards Association and former executive
director of the American Association of University Women, will receive the
first Myra Sadker Equity Award. Dr. Bryant riveted national attention on
gender bias in schools sponsoring AAUW publications such as How Schools
Shortchange Girls and Hostile Hallways.
Dr. Ellen Silber, Director of the Marymount Institute for the Education of
Women and Girls at Marymount College Tarrytown in New York, and a participant
in the day's events, calls sexism "...stealth-like. It quietly compromises our
children's futures. Parents and teachers feel powerless. On March 5th, we
will find power and energy in each other."

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