老澳门开奖结果

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CHICAGO 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 asked the federal Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education today to investigate three single-sex education programs in three schools in the Beloit and Barron School Districts in Wisconsin.

Also this week, the 老澳门开奖结果 sent open records requests to the Austin Independent School District in Texas and the Valley Charter School District in Modesto, California. An administrative complaint concerning a special education program was filed against the Cape May Regional School District in New Jersey.

The 老澳门开奖结果 complaints, which followed an analysis of documents received through open records laws, contend that the programs appear to violate federal and state law by forcing students into a single-sex environment, relying on harmful gender stereotypes and depriving students of equal educational opportunities merely because of their sex.

鈥淭here is no solid evidence supporting the assertions about supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains that underlie these programs, and there is absolutely no evidence that teaching boys and girls differently leads to any educational improvements,鈥� said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harmful for public schools to promote these types of generalizations about boys and girls鈥攑articularly at the elementary school level.鈥�

The Wisconsin complaints were filed against Riverview Middle School in Barron; and Robinson and McLenegan Elementary Schools in Beloit.

The programs trained teachers that boys should be allowed to move around the classroom during instruction, while girls should sit quietly; some encouraged tailoring instructional materials and assignments toward stereotypical 鈥渂oys鈥� interests鈥� like sports and 鈥済irls鈥� interests鈥� like sharing feelings; and some emphasized that they should speak to boys in a clear and assertive manner while smiling and speaking softly to girls.

The programs were heavily influenced by the ideas of Dr. Leonard Sax, whose theories on the supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains are rooted in archaic stereotypes. For example, Dr. Sax has said that girls do badly under stress, so they should not be given time limits on a test; and that boys who like to read, do not enjoy contact sports and do not have a lot of close male friends should be firmly disciplined, required to spend time with 鈥渘ormal males鈥� and made to play sports.

The school districts cited Sax鈥檚 discredited theory of differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains as its justification for single-sex education. These theories were recently debunked in an article authored by a multidisciplinary team of scientists in the prestigious journal Science, which argued that sex segregation does not improve academic performance, but does foster stereotypes.

The 老澳门开奖结果 demands that the OCR investigate and enforce federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex in schools and ensure that these programs are not implemented again.

Today鈥檚 filing was the latest action in the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 national 鈥淭each Kids, Not Stereotypes鈥� campaign, a national effort to uncover information about sex stereotypes in single-sex education programs across the country.

More information on the 鈥淭each Kids, Not Stereotypes鈥� campaign can be found here: www.aclu.org/womens-rights/teach-kids-not-stereotypes