Do Boys and Girls Receive Equal Opportunity in First Grade Reading Instruction

This research was carried out to discover why student perceive differential teacher treatment when behavioral data suggest that teachers provide the same learning environment for both sexes. The research was carried out in four first-grade classrooms in a small Texas school district; in each class three girls and three boys rated high in achievement by their teacher, and three girls and three boys rated low were observed. A special coded system was constructed to record differential teacher behavi.ors, the quality of the child's response, and the type of feedback provided by the teacher. Approximately 4 hours of reading instruction were observed in each classroom. The results showed that teachers extend equal treatment to boys and girls, with high-achievement students of both sexes receiving preferential treatment in some instances. However, boys did receive more teacher criticism over all areas of classroom life because of their more frequent disruptive behavior. Students' impressions were that boys received more negative comments from teachers during reading instruction, probably due to a generalized halo effect distorting their perception of what happens in the reading group. The fact that girls learn to read faster than boys cannot be traced to teacher behavior during reading groups, and the educational significance of this difference does not seem to be important. (MBM)