<p>WashDad: The t-shirt joke is great! I’m guessing your son enjoys his rebellious streak & his teachers’ reactions, no?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s maturity, internal drive, external encouragement, or teacher bias toward “artsy” homework assignments, but girls seem to easily outnumber boys at our h.s. in the teacher-granted academic “awards” department. They also outnumber boys in the president-of-club department and generally way outnumber boys in the service club memberships. </p>
<p>I agree it’s not fair to imply that girls who have achieved at a high level in h.s. do so solely because they are more adept with gluesticks, felt and glitter, but it really cannot be denied that this aspect of h.s. assignments does go on and it is generally loathed by boys. We (parents of boys) are not making this stuff up. H and I just attended open house and looking at the posted work in S2’s soph English class brought this point home, yet again. The group-project assignment was to create a notebook on a mock trial (based on whether Huckleberry Finn should be banned from a h.s. reading list). Predictably, the boy-dominated groups’ notebooks were complete but plain, with minimal illustrations and frills. The girl-dominated groups’ notebooks had elaborated decorated covers and each section had its own equally impressive “look.” Guess which notebooks got As from the yes, female English teacher? Maybe it’s not fair to extrapolate the results of year-end academic awards from this one assignment, but still, at last year’s awards ceremony, the girls outnumbered boys in the English award at each grade level by 6 to 1. </p>
<p>Whether boys begin to turn off, slack off, lose interest in school in large numbers, particularly in public schools, is something that deserves serious study in this country. Unfortunately, it simply is not PC to suggest that boys are being shortchanged in public schools.</p>
<p>Washdad</p>
<p>He sounds like a great kid! What lucky school is going to get him?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I bet the “stats race” - what’s published in US News & World Report, and reported on the various college search sites and in their own marketing brochures about selectivity, etc. means they TALK a good game about “holistic” admissions, but that’s just double-speak and self-serving. </p>
<p>It no doubt DOES increase the number of apps they get, which helps their selectivity numbers, and the merry-go-round just keeps on spinning, but parents who have seen this “game” from both sides have good reason to be cynical.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Being the father of a 17-year-old iconoclast does have its rewards as well as its disadvantages.</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot of people saying that boys are being shortchanged in public schools–I just said it myself and I’m pretty PC. For the most part, it didn’t affect my boy–he’s able to sit and focus for long periods. The messy project issue did apply to him, but he got enough better by HS that it didn’t trash his GPA. To a certain extent, I suppose a tidier, more beautiful project may reflect more effort, but, in general, it does seem like a silly thing to focus on.</p>
<p>From the College Board 2006 National Report:
<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
<p>Total number scoring 750-800 in CR/ Math/ Writing:</p>
<p>Males: 12,419 / 22,687/ 7,231
Females: 13,525/ 10,113/ 10,279 </p>
<p>Total number scoring 700-750 in CR/Math/Writing:
Males: 20,757/ 39,381/ 16,347
Females: 22/292/ 23,578/ 21,501.</p>
<p>In my earlier post, I failed to acknowledge that at the very top, males outperform females in math as shown above, which explains why there is more gender parity at top schools than in second or third tier schools.</p>
<p>For math SAT scores in the 500-600 range,
males: 191,298
females: 241,388.
CR and Writing scores remain higher for females than males, as is the case for scores 700-800.</p>
<p>This may reflect the fact that more women than men take the SAT; but this explains why second and third-tier schools may practice AA for males.</p>
<p>Washdad:</p>
<p>Can your son send his squirrel detector our way? We can detect the squirrels, especially since they have the habit of sitting on our fence and looking into our kitcken, but this is the second time I’ve got to get an exterminator to get one out of the space between ceiling and upper floor.</p>
<p>Your son’s story makes me think that holistic admissions should be practiced more, not less. GPAs and SAT scores cannot measure creativity and inventiveness. Your son’s ECs can.</p>
<p>
This made me laugh. It’s Mathson’s little brother. He always spends way too much time making gorgeous projects! Wish it helped him more grade-wise!</p>
<p>Being the parent of one of each, neither of which had any time for “dressing up” their work, and both of whom flourished, I still get the idea that “my kid doesn’t like projects” or “homework” so the system is obviously biased against him, is kinda suspect.</p>
<p>I deleted a long rant that now a couple of folks have referred to. It included a reference to my son’s “resume” which was a 3-page lists of inventions, gadgets, and technical accomplishments. I specifically mentioned his capacitance-touchpad-driven squirrel detector and repulsion device. He somehow used a pair of 555 timers and a small amplifier to drive a 120dB buzzer. When the squirrel ran up the trim around our front window, it would set off the buzzer next to the squirrel’s head. It worked great – no more squirrels in the attic. The original post also mentioned that he built a canoe. When he was 12 he was nagging me about “I don’t have anything to do” so I challenged him to design something that would count in binary. He wired up something that used a series of LEDs to slowly light and switch off in a binary counting pattern. When colleges asked him to name “which books influenced you the most?” his first answer was “Understanding Digital Electronics.” </p>
<p>[shameless]
The interviewer from Olin asked him if he had applied for a patent on his squirrel detector.
[/shameless]</p>
<p>[nerdhumor]
I was helping him sort through some new parts a friend had given him. I was looking at the data sheet on a 556 timer chip:</p>
<p>Dad: Looks like a 556 is just two 555s in a single package.
Jr: Ooo! Twins!
[/nerdhumor]</p>
<p>Garland, I’d put homework & projects in two seperate categories. If a kid doesn’t do homework…tough. Grades suffer, as they should. </p>
<p>Projects, however, are often of questionable value. Your D might not have enjoyed dressing stuff up, but if you look around the hallways of most schools, girls’ projects rule. And the result can be very subjective, lowered grades for boys. Not all teachers are capable of overlooking a craft-impaired kid’s poor art skills & evaluating if he developed an understanding of the subject & conveyed that knowledge. </p>
<p>I’m thinking of an article I read many years ago, where a h.s. English teacher was bemoaning the lowered standards in his profession. As kids were less and less interested (or capable) of studying Shakespeare, less and less was demanded of them. Where once they analyzed sonnets & studied King Lear, they now built paper mache models of the Globe Theatre.</p>
<p>The frustrating thing is that MIT can’t win – either they accept all the kids with sky-high GPAs and test scores (and get called unholistic) or they accept all the kids with spark and creativity (and get called unmeritocratic). They compromise, like anyone would in that situation.</p>
<p>Since we are bemoaning modern teaching and also talking about squirrels, here is one of those e-mail humor pieces. I am not the original author:</p>
<p>Math 1950-2006</p>
<p>Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter
girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8
Cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the
nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I
sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two
quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to
explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I
tell you this?</p>
<hr>
<p>Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 1950</li>
</ol>
<p>A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 1960</li>
</ol>
<p>A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 1970</li>
</ol>
<p>A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is $80. Did he make a profit?</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 1980</li>
</ol>
<p>A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline
The number 20.</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 1990</li>
</ol>
<p>A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and
inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the
preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit
of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for
class participation after answering the question: How did the birds
and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no
wrong answers.)</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Teaching Math In 2006</li>
</ol>
<p>Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la
producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?</p>
<p>SS-but my point is, neither of my kids did, and both somehow managed to get good grades.</p>
<p>Maybe they were paying off the teachers.</p>
<p>Coureur–funny!</p>
<p>My H, trying to teach science to students who don’t really get numbers at all, would like to see calculators abolished.</p>
<p>They are fortunate to have a highly talented applicant pool. This way they can choose bright kids who “fit”. I think, like Mollieb, they look at classic high achievers, creative kids, and some diamonds in the rough. Seems to me like they have done a good job throughout the years. It certainly is an art that probably includes gut feel based on experience.</p>
<p>I have not read all of the boy/girl posts, and it is off topic. As the parent of 2 boys, well I’ll chime in. Based not only on my son’s, but plenty of their friends, I found that on the whole:</p>
<p>Many boys dislike crafty/art projects, and would much prefer to play a physical game to learn information (where they can get out of their seats, jump up and down, etc.), or do some computer/electronic/techie project instead.</p>
<p>Many boys have messy lockers, backpacks, and notebooks. Many cannot find their old tests/quizzes to study for finals. Many were rolled into a ball and thrown out, or ripped at the bottom of the their backpack.</p>
<p>Many boys lose HW, b/c it gets lost in the depths of their messy notebooks/backpacks.</p>
<p>Okay, so some will find this sexist, and stereotyping, but I am just being honest. There are exceptions to all of the comments I have made. I know that some boys are very artistic (I have neighbors where this is the case), but overall, I stick with my generalizations.</p>
<p>My own son had one project crumble apart as he was showing it to his male teacher (who was fine with the work, BTW). It was a model airplane (gave some speech about the Wright Brothers in elementary school). The plane came in unpainted, no glitter on it, and it was fine. Other boys in elementary school struggled with mandatory mobiles (book reports). They simply could not hang the yarn on hangers without great entanglement issues! My kids could actually handle the mobiles, but they were totally disinterested.</p>
<p>courer, interesting, and probably true in some areas, but this would not represent math for my guys. </p>
<p>The underlining I have seen. BTW, my son never liked to underline. He was required to this for one class in middle school. He never saw the reason behind doing this in order to learn. It is just not his style.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m confused, but it semms like several totally different threads are now talking about how boys are different from girls.</p>
<p>Maybe I am guilty of the confusion. Sorry. It looked like this was the shift and off topic. Feel free to move my posts to the girl vs. boy thread, if it is elsewhere.</p>