> I don't agree that the picture is as you paint it since
> you are privy to sources I don't have. I have found
> that, although some few instances may favor girls, the
> vast majority of the events in schools have structure
> that favors boys.
You posted anecdotal evidence that there are few girls in AP calculus.
I merely noted that national statistics disagree with your anecdote.
The Condition of Education 1996, Supplemental Table 29-1
Table 29-1: Percentage of high school graduates taking selected
mathematics and science courses in high school, by sex: 1982, 1987,
1990, and 1994
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsold/ce96/c9629d01.html
The numbers for AP calculus are equal by sex with in the survey sampling
errors.
Standard errors for table 29-1
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsold/ce96/c9629g01.html
While we are on the subject, we should also note that there are more
girls than boys completing Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II,
Trigonometry, Analysis/pre-calculus, and Statistics/probability.
> Yes, the ones who don't prefer the
> rules are in trouble more frequently because schools
> identify behaviors above academics and, as a result,
> girls get grades (our current reward system.) Your
> statistics establish your argument and your proofs
> overlook my point: some of our kids are involved in a
> system that makes success elusive. The law is clear: the
> system shall not mediate against success for anyone based
> on gender, etc. I am sure you are accurate when you
> allege some inequities the other way but I find more
> iniquities supporting the position I have taken.
I find it unfortunate that some schools discriminate in the way that
you've found.
> If boys are shorted in some schools the same set of laws
> would mitigate the situation to find equal treatment.
> My view of the situation when I tend my garden will
> continue to motivate me to implement the environment I
> believe appropriate. You will also do what you must,
> but I have three sons and two daughters and I spent 33
> years in the classroom watching what came in and what
> went out.
Perhaps you can advise the National Center for Education Statistics on
why your personal experience trumps their data collection methods.
-Robert Weverka <weverka@optivision.com>