Math is for girls
I recently read a National Coalition of Girls’ Schools blog post by Sally Reid, who teaches at Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She makes interesting and salient points about girls and mathematics.
As I read the post, I noticed some parallels between Ms. Reid’s school and Elmwood. She sees first-hand the advantages of a single-sex learning environment for her students, especially in math. Ms. Reid states at her school, “The best math student is a girl, the most outspoken math student is a girl, and all the kids in the Calculus class are girls.” This is also the case at Elmwood.
The research is clear; single-sex learning environments significantly contribute to increased confidence and success for girls. We see it every day at Elmwood where 75% of our Grade 12 class is currently studying Calculus. Year on year, more than 50% of our graduates go on to study math, science and engineering at university. This is statistically significant considering that although women now account for a significant majority of undergraduate students at Canadian universities, female enrollment in engineering, math and science faculties has never exceeded 20%. Research also shows that women who pursue non-traditional careers earn 150% more in their lifetimes.
This confidence and success is not relegated to our graduates; Elmwood Junior School students have achieved outstanding results on the CAT 3 test for the third year in a row. This is a national standardized test that enables Elmwood to compare the academic performance of its students with that of boys and girls in the same grade throughout Canada.
In November, our Grade 3 and Grade 5 classes sat the CAT 3 test. The girls wrote the test “cold”—they were not coached or prepared because doing so could distort the outcome. The results of the CAT 3 test are impressive. On average, students in Grade 3 and Grade 5 performed a full 18 months above grade level in Reading, Language and Mathematics.
As Sally Reid quite rightly says, confidence in math and success are directly proportional. Girls need to be in an environment surrounded by confident, competent role models. The bottom line: If she has a strong foundation and believes in herself, she’ll have what it takes to succeed in mathematics and she will reach her full potential.
Cheryl
P.S. I’m looking forward to seeing some great dance routines at this weekend’s Father-Daughter Dinner and Dance!
Great to see this reference to AllGirls (my blog for NCGS) in your post. And glad you picked up on guestblogger Sally Reid’s piece. I love hearing that 75 percent of your Grade 12 girls are taking calculus. When I was in high school — OK it was a looong time ago — I was an unenthusiastic student of mathematics. Then in college I took calculus, and the scales fell from my eyes. Math was fascinating! I felt the that fun stuff had been kept from me, and I was finally discovering it.
Cheryl,
Thanks for reading and glad you agree. I was particularly interested in your statistics about the percentage of women who pursue engineering and the salary ramifications if they do! This past fall, we had a fabulous panel of women engineers come to speak in assembly. Our girls could hear first-hand about career possibilities in design and computer science, many of which may never have occurred to them. For example, one young panelist designs high-tech tents and actually had some of them set up in our common area. If you want information about these speakers, you can contact Nancy Rich at nancy.rich@danahall.org. Good luck!
Sally Reid
I am glad that the benefits of a single sex environment are no less for our friends and colleagues up North! Thank you, Cheryl, for adding yet another voice from the field to this important topic.