Introduction - Add-Ventures for Girls

"'In the past ten years there have been many attempts to explain the sex differences in persistence and achievement in mathematics. Cases have been made for differences in brain development and lateralization, in spatial ability, in hormonal balance-even for the presence of a (male) math gene. Such research has a tendency to excuse and preserve the status quo. Indeed, it implies that the differences are natural and necessary, universal, and therefore just. I, on the other hand, have been content to be more modest: I simply visited schools where these sex differences in achievement were minimal or absent and looked around. The same hormones, the same brain lobes, the same maturation patterns were at work as prevail elsewhere. But the young women were learning mathematics principally, so far as I could see, because they had been given good reason to think they could and should."

This book will help you give young women those "good reasons" to think they can and should learn mathematics. As a math teacher, you know that mathematics is an important subject. However, you may not be aware of how math acts as a "critical filter" when students enter postsecondary school. Without a sound advanced mathematics background, students are excluded from a large portion of college majors. This book is designed to help you to build a foundation of math skills and attitudes for students in grades six through nine, so that when they reach high school, they will want to take as many math courses as possible and will become high math achievers.

During their early school years, students develop the skills and attitudes toward learning that form the basis for future academic growth. If students develop a negative learning pattern toward a subject, it is extremely difficult to change. We know that when girls reach adolescence, a number of factors may combine to produce strong internal (attitudinal) and external (societal) barriers to reaching their mathematics potential. Therefore, it is vitally important that junior high and high school teachers do all they can to reverse negative patterns and build girls' positive attitudes and skills in mathematics. This will help girls withstand later societal pressures, continue math studies, and feel free to select math related careers.

This guide includes strategies, activities, and resources that deal with five major topics: Attitudes and Math, Math Relevance, the Learning Environment, Other Issues, and Mathematics Promotion. Within each of these major topic areas are several subtopics.

Each chapter of this guide begins with a discussion of research findings on the practices and/or student attitudes that affect girls' math attitudes and performance. Strategies, activities, and resources that you can use to address each topic are described. Each chapter ends with an annotated resource list of materials that contains valuable ideas and activities.
Because many of the subtopics in the guide are interrelated, several of the strategies, activities, and resources are appropriate for more than one area. In those cases, the reader is referred to the appropriate section for additional information.

To use the guide, first read the pages introducing each subsection to gain an overview of research results and strategies. Most, but not all, of the activities in this book include math skill practice while covering the topic areas of concern. Review them to see how the math activities fit with what your students are currently learning. An index of activities referenced by math concepts/skills is also included at the end of the guide. You may use the topic ideas, but modify the math portion of the activity to better fit your students' needs.

The sections on attitudes and math relevancy were placed at the beginning of the book for two reasons. First, because these two issues negative and stereotypical attitudes about girls and math and lack of information about math usefulness and relevancy form the basis for many problems that surface later. And second, because we know that teachers usually devote little or no time to such topics. We encourage you to devise ways to spend more class time exploring and rernediating negative attitudes and stereotypes and explaining why math is important; the time lost frorn math drill and practice will be more than returned when students approach the subject with positive attitudes and a high level of interest.

Another point that needs to be stressed is that although the activities and strategies suggested in this guide are particularly focused on providing equitable math instruction for girls, their use can benefit all students. All of the suggestions are based on research findings, published resources, and practical ideas from math teachers. They represent sound educational practice and, when used as part of your mathematics curriculum, will provide a positive learning environment for both boys and girls. The book is based on the premise that we can encourage students' positive feelings as well as provide information about mathematical facts and processes. All students will benefit from this approach.