Parents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders, business people and policymakers are all stakeholders who need to create ongoing and productive partnerships in order to eliminate gender bias and further the achievement and healthy development of girls. To reach girls effectively, educators must look at each child as an individual and tailor their strategies accordingly. Unlike the T-shirt industry, one size doesn't fit all. America can no longer afford to ignore this valuable lesson. A unique and exhaustive synthesis of more than 500 academic studies and papers dating primarily from 1989 through 1994, Growing Smart draws on a wealth of previously untapped and nontraditional resources such as focus groups, interviews, project reports, and annual reports from community service organizations for girls that are too often ignored by researchers.
Gender equity is a two-sided proposition.
School reform that fosters more positive interaction and growth between girls and boys will help all students develop to their full potential. In 1992 AAUW issued a bleak diagnosis of the state of girls in America's schools. Boys were rewarded for aggressive behavior and girls became spectators at learning. Growing Smart provides the compass headings for a new course in education reform by answering the question of what girls need to succeed. Past AAUW Educational Foundation research revealed pervasive gender bias against girls through differential treatment by teachers that steered girls away from math and science and through competitive learning environments where boys tended to dominate and girls were marginalized.