Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/good-or-merely-as-good-as

Comment #1578

2008-09-23T12:49:53Z

I'll take the liberty to add they suddenly turned nice to me when they needed help with homework . . .

Comment #1577

2008-07-29T11:36:08Z

The valedictorian of Lake Brantley's Class of 1997 was (is) certainly female, if the approach of my most recent grandchild is any indication. :) There's a lot more than math that goes into a high school GPA, though.

Physics may, indeed, be a better marker than math. It's hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure there were more boys than girls in my regular high school physics course. The fact that I was the only girl in the subsequent AP Physics course means nothing, since I was the only person in the course. :) In college I was the only girl in many of my physics classes, so I'm guessing that when I switched to a math major, that left the physics graduating class all male.

I'm pretty sure there were other girls in Heather's calculus class, but by Janet's time there were more calculus options and I think the other girls were in the easier versions. Most of the boys in that class made it difficult for her, but it's hard to discern whether that was really because she was the only girl, or because she was two years younger than most of them -- though Heather was the youngest in her class, too, so I don't know. If you believe the calculus teacher, Janet's class comprised a particularly difficult and rowdy set of boys anyway.

Comment #1576

2008-07-29T10:33:11Z

Thanks for your comment, Hannah. You are absolutely right that equality of opportunity should not be confused with equality of outcome.

Comment #1575

2008-07-29T03:39:28Z

The problem here is the need to make everyone equal. I do agree that everyone ideally should have the same opportunities. The problem is that not everyone has the same capabilities. Those with exceptionally high capacities for learning are held back while the rest of the class is brought up to speed.

I know a fair amount of intelligent girls in my school just as I know intelligent boys. I would not bother trying to compare the two groups because it is hard to judge how smart an individual is. As far as math goes, the guys might do a little better, but I wouldn’t say significantly so.

Comment #1574

2008-07-25T15:16:09Z

I guess it is just my strange school again, but in most years, the majority of the top ten students were girls.

I think there were more guys in calculus than girls, if I remember correctly, there weren't any girls who weren't in the top ten or so, but there were definitely guys who were lower on the academic scale who were in calculus.

The girls tended to take anatomy & physiology rather than physics.