Thursday night was a biggie for newscasters. "Shocking study reveals" that girls are just as good at math as boys." Actually, they didn't give that much info prior to the actual story. The teasers for this story made me think that I was going to be blown away.
As a sixth grade math teacher for fifteen years, I can truthfully say that I never even wondered if girls or boys were better at math. Students are individuals. It doesn't matter what gender or race they are. They are people with unique talents, concerns, worries, and personalities. Some of my students did exceptionally well in math. Others struggled. We were all in it together and learned from each other.
Every year I had a team of sixth graders enter the district math competition. It never occurred to me to seek out only males for my team. The first criteria for me was the desire a student had to be a team member. All were eligible to attend our after school sessions. Students worked together on problem solving and laughed when their solutions were way off the mark. Eventually, a little team would form for the competition. One year we actually came in first place and beat out a team from a gifted school. I couldn't tell you now how many girls or how many boys were on that team.
The study itself bothers me because I just don't think that way. Making a big deal about girls performing as well as boys in math seems like one of those "duh" moments to me. Thinking of students as individuals makes a lot more sense.