The Gender Debate Expands

A teacher's gender has large effects on student test performance.

A new study by Dr. Thomas S. Dee of Swathmore College contends that a teacher's gender has large effects on student test performance.  Boys learn better from men and girls learn better from women.  Therefore, Dee concludes that matching teachers and students by gender could narrow achievement gaps.

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) of 8th grade students, Dee found:

  • having a teacher of the opposite sex hurt a child's academic progress 
  • women teachers were more likely to believe boys were disruptive
  • in classes taught by men, girls were not as interested, were afraid to ask questions, and did not believe the subject was useful for their future

Since 80% of U.S. public school teachers are women, these findings are especially problematic for boys.

Although approved by peer reviewers, Dee's research has ignited debate.

The research by Dr. Dee has been published in Education Next from Stanford University.

To read related articles -

  • "Do same-sex teachers educate better?" - click here
  • "Mars and Venus in the Classroom" - click here
  • "New Research shows boys learn more from men, girls learn more from women teachers" - click here

 

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