PassagethreeManypeoplebelievethatboysandgirlsshouldbeeducatedinseparateclassesbecausetheirbrainsaretolearnindifferentways.Forthepastdecadeparentsandteachershavebecomeworriedincreasinglyaboutboys,whoarenowroutinelyoutperformedbygirlsateverylevelandwhoshowgrowinglevelsofself-dissatisfactionandlackofmotivation.Dr.Sax,founderoftheNationalAssociationforSingleSexPublicEducationintheUnitedStates,arguesthatthisgendergapistheresultofinnatelydifferentlearningstylesofboysandgirls,andthatmostclassroomsplaytothestrengthofgirls.Boys,forexample,donothearaswellasgirls.So,afemaleteacherwithasoftvoicemaybelievethataboywhoisnotpayingattentionisplayingup,whenactuallyhecannothearherproperly.Herreactionmaybetodisciplinehim.ButDr.Saxsaysthatshewouldgetbetterresultsbyspeakinglouderandmovingpurposefullyaroundtheclassroom.Boys’eyesalsorespondbettertomovementanddirection,whilegirls’eyesaremoreaffectedbycolorandtexture.Askedtodraw,five-year-oldgirlsproduceflowers,petsandpeople.Boyswilldrawacarcrash,butmaybereproachedbyteachersforproducingsomethingthatis“notnice”.Similarly,althoughmostgirlscansitstillfromayoungage,mostboysneedtobeactivetodiscovertheirownpace.Oneresult,Dr.Saxbelieves,istheoverdiagnosisofattentiondeficitdisorderamongboyswhoareconsideredinattentivebyteachers.Parentsanddoctorsaretemptedtotreatthiswithmedication,whensimplyputtingtheminaboy-friendlyclassroomwouldbefarmoreeffective.Thefailureofschoolstounderstandwhygendermattersmeansthatboysveryoftenswitchofffromlearningfromanearlyageandneverreengage.Longaftertheirsistershavegonetouniversity,theyarestilltrappedathomesufferingfrom“failuretolaunch”intoadultlife.Thesolution,Dr.Saxbelieves,liesinsingle-sexeducationprovidedbyteacherstrainedtounderstandthedifferencesinbrainfunctionbetweenboysandgirls.35.Whatmayhappenifschoolsandteachersdon’tunderstandgenderdifferences?