Women continue to be underrepresented in the high paying fields of science, math, and engineering. They receive only about 80% of the salary of men holding similar jobs in any field and still face glass ceilings that limit their attainment. How do we educate and empower girls to surmount these barriers and succeed throughout their lives?

This unique book reveals the kinds of teaching that engages girls intellectually, fosters their creativity, and bolsters their confidence. Drawing on descriptions of great lessons written by nearly 2,000 students and teachers, it offers a practical, accessible guide to anyone who wants to find better ways to help young women succeed.

The authors review the special qualities of lessons that resonate with girls and show how they meet their developmental needs throughout adolescence. They also show how vital it is that such teaching happen within schools that help students learn about the numerous ways that gender affects girls’ development. The authors conclude by detailing how school leaders can create cultures that support this kind of great learning and teaching. 

Dedication Epigraph Foreword Acknowledgements Preface 1.Introduction 2.The Qualities of Effective Lessons 3.Engaging Classroom Activities 4.The Importance of Teachers 5.Why These Lessons Work 6.Gender in the Classroom 7.Practicing Gender Consciousness 8.STEAM and Intellectual Risk Taking 9.A School That Works for Girls 10.Afterword Endnotes Bibliography Index

If we want girls who are confident, wide-awake, and fully engaged in the world around them, we need gender-attuned and informed teachers in their classrooms. Teaching Girls deftly balances the latest research on gender with specific lessons and educational strategies that work for girls. We know they work not only because we hear from seasoned teachers, but because girls themselves weigh in on what excites them about learning.
— Lyn Mikel Brown, Professor of Education, Colby College; author, "Girl: Powered By Girl: A Field Guide for Supporting Youth Activists"

In Teaching Girls: How Teachers and Parents Can Reach Their Brains and Hearts, Kuriloff, Andrus, and Jacobs provide anyone who is invested in education and wants to learn more about how to shape learning environments that optimize learning for girls with insights and pragmatic suggestions. Using the illustrative accounts of girls and their teachers, and school-based examples, the authors avoid stereotypical thinking and offer a nuanced understanding of how gender can influence learning. The book is a rich resource for teachers and parents because it is filled with ideas to ponder, discuss, and apply to our day to day interactions with our students and children.
— John D’Auria, president, Teachers21

Teaching Girls: How Teachers and Parents Can Reach Their Brains and Hearts is a compendium of excellent teaching strategies, often narrated by the girls themselves. It is a well-researched and thoughtful study of what works and what empowers girls as learners. This is a must read for anyone who teaches girls or simply loves the wonderfully quirky and sometimes tumultuous landscape of their lives, both in and out of the classroom. As someone who has been involved in girls’ education for over 30 years, this is a truly wonderful addition to my burgeoning library.
— Priscilla Sands, EdD, Head, Marlborough School

Finally, a practical, easy-to-read book that teaches us how girls become deeply engaged at school, and why. The authors shatter outdated myths about how girls learn and tell us what the research really says about girls’ brains. Most importantly, they listen to the voices of girls and teachers. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to understand what a girls’ education is meant for, and can be. If you’re an educator of girls, you need this book.
— Rachel Simmons, author of “Odd Girl Out” and “The Curse of the Good Girl”

Those of us with daughters and those of us who teach girls need to read this book. This timely, engaging, and highly accessible study is an invaluable resource. The authors have gathered an incredible amount of information from the girls themselves, as well as their teachers, presenting a wide range of exciting ideas and strategies. I couldn’t put it down!
— Katherine Schultz, Dean, University of Colorado Boulder

What I like best about Teaching Girls is how commonsensical and accessible it is. There is no pretense that much of what is said wouldn’t also be helpful to boys, but rather a continuing emphasis on how much potential girls have, how most schools have under-valued and under-developed that potential, and how those shortcomings can be readily overcome.
— James H. Lytle, former superintendent of the Trenton, NJ Public Schools

This remarkable study reveals how girls think, how girls learn and why gender matters. The challenge and mandate for schools today is to provide an education that is relevant and prepares students for college and most importantly for the lives they will lead as adults. At a time when women and girls continue to experience barriers to success due to the pressures of stereotype threat, role continuity and the imposture syndrome, we need to identify and employ remedies that remove these barriers and optimize the learning and growth of the girls in our care. Educators and parents alike will benefit from the understandings and tools outlined in this beautifully written and easy to understand guide to the life of the girl in the classroom.
— Dr. Katherine G. Windsor, Head of Miss Porters School & Board Chair of the Oprah Winfrey Leaders

Putting the voices of girls at the center, this superb book offers unparalleled insight into the learning lives of adolescent girls. Rooted in rigorous methodology, Kuriloff, Andrus and Jacobs illuminate the vital ways in which relationship, personal relevance, passion and content-rich studies are intertwined and central to deep learning for girls. By highlighting the place of gender in students’ lives, this book provides both a practical and inspiring text that can help teachers and administrators work against pernicious stereotyping and open up worlds of possibility.
— Miriam Miriam Raider-Roth, EdD, Professor, University of Cincinnati