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NCGS PURPOSE
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The National Coalition of Girls' Schools (NCGS) is the leading advocate for girls' schools, connecting and collaborating globally with individuals, schools, and organizations dedicated to educating and empowering girls.
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IN THE NEWS
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Research:
The Franklin Institute Science Museum
Time
CNN International
NPR
The Huffington Post
The Atlantic
The New York Times
Los Feliz Ledger
The Telegraph (UK)
Mashable (Jordan)
The Huffington Post (Global)
The Guardian (Australia)
TakePart (Global)
The Huffington Post (Global)
Forbes (Global)
The Times of India (India)
Voice of America (Global)
Evening Standard (Nigeria)
The Huffington Post (Lebanon)
The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
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THE COALITION CONNECTION
March 11, 2016
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Dear NCGS Community,
What an exciting start it's been for Women's History Month!
Earlier this week on March 8, we celebrated International Women's Day. NCGS collaborated with Girl Up on a "Raising Girls' Voices" blog post encouraging the world to #StepItUp to advocate for global girls' education. That same day, Microsoft premiered a powerful video featuring girls struggling to name examples of female inventors. There are indeed plenty of women inventors, historical and contemporary, to admire. After listing several, a young woman in the video says it best: "To know that there are women before me gives me motivation that I can invent something and maybe make a change in the world. That would be really cool." Yes, it would!
Similarly, The Nightingale-Bamford School developed the Anonymous Project to empower girls to celebrate the life and work of female leaders whose achievements have been historically overlooked. The results were shared this week in partnership with the 92Y's 7 Days of Genius Festival, which is committed to uncovering truly exceptional, creative people in the world who might otherwise be missed. Student projects are exhibited in the 92Y's "Genius Revealed Installation," highlighted on the festival's blog, and promoted on social media with the hashtag #anonymousgenius.  Women's History Month is about celebrating the contributions of women -- from inventors to activists, artists to politicians -- to events in history and contemporary society. The theme for 2016 is "Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government." As educators, we can infuse women's history into our curricula and school life to help inspire our girls. Here is a sampling of free educational resources that delve into this year's theme: As stated by the National Women's History Project, "History helps us learn who we are, but when we don't know our own history, our power and dreams are immediately diminished." At NCGS, we want to reflect the culture of our girls' schools by fostering opportunity and innovation in our programs and services. Female historic figures serve as inspiration for our students and challenge them to imagine and explore the new possibilities of their generation. We hope you will find these activities and resources helpful to embolden your students' dreams during Women's History Month and beyond.
Best wishes,
Megan
Megan Murphy
Executive Director
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Study on Adolescents' Attitudes, Self-Concept, and Future Aspirations in STEM
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Over the past several decades, the scarcity of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and its serious implications for the workforce in the 21st century has drawn international attention. This scarcity is even more glaring when one looks at the numbers of girls, women, and racial/ethnic minorities who choose to pursue STEM. Starting in middle school and continuing through college, students lose confidence and interest in science and math and become less motivated to continue pursuing these disciplines. NCGS has partnered with Dr. Nilanjana Dasgupta, Professor of Psychology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass) to try to find some answers as to why.
 Funded by a five-year National Science Foundation grant, the UMass study is examining the psychological factors that increase or decrease students' interest in science and math, their academic performance, and their motivation to pursue higher levels of science and math. Of particular interest is how peer relations and classroom dynamics in middle school may influence students' attitudes toward science and math and their motivation, confidence, and future aspirations in these fields. The study focuses on early adolescence (8th grade) because science and math classes in high school build on the concepts and skills taught in 8th grade. This is also a time when stereotypes and peer norms begin to significantly influence students' interests and self-identity.
The aim is to identify aspects of peer dynamics and classroom environments that are associated with better outcomes for students. Past research provides suggestive evidence that students engaged in collaborative learning feel increased sense of mastery and achievement in STEM. Past research also suggests that students find science and math courses interesting and meaningful when it provides opportunities to connect classroom experiences with their personal goals and interests. The present study builds on prior work to investigate whether student participation in class, collaboration with peers, and understanding of the link between their course curriculum and its implications for solving big societal problems contribute to their interest, motivation, persistence, and future aspirations in science and math. A second goal is to assess whether students' gender or race/ethnicity influences the importance of these classroom dynamics on student outcomes in math and science.
Data collection began in fall 2014 and is continuing through spring 2019. Preliminary results show participation in class and students' understanding of real-world applications of science and math are particularly important. More specifically: - Students who participated more frequently in their science and math classes:
- felt more self-confident about their science and math ability, and
- expressed more positive feelings toward science and math.
- Students who collaborated more often with classmates in their math and science classes:
- felt more strongly that they "fit in" or belonged in science and math class.
- Students who reported more understanding of real world applications of science and math in class:
- felt science and math were more important and valuable to them.
Dr. Dasgupta is currently scheduled to present more in-depth findings at the 2018 NCGS Conference, June 18-20 at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park in Washington, D.C.
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Maker Day 2016 at Marymount School of New York
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Marymount School of New York is hosting its third annual Maker Day on April 9, 2016. Maker Day is a free, half-day event for educators, students, parents, designers, and makers to present projects, attend workshops, and explore how digital fabrication and making are reviving -- and inspiring -- our classrooms.
You can participate in two ways: attend or present. Teacher, student, and designer presentations on any topic related to making and fabrication are welcome. There will also be a Making Faire, where schools can share their projects. A RoboExpo will be offered as a separate event in the afternoon for those who want to extend their learning experience.
Click here for more information, to submit a proposal (due date is March 18), or register for the Maker Day and/or RoboExpo.
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Girls' Leadership Conference 2016 at Young Women's College Prep
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Attendees will participate in a series of interactive workshops led by girls, for girls. Students from across the region will share their leadership skills with other conference attendees, providing girls an opportunity to grow as leaders and display their skills and knowledge. Conference objectives include:
- To inspire young women to set clear goals for future leadership development.
- To increase self-awareness of their current leadership strengths and begin to build their own personal leadership philosophies.
- To develop a powerful network of like-minded emerging leaders.
- To discover their unique leadership style and grow as public speakers.
- To expose girls to innovative approaches to leadership.
- To teach skills to help girls gain confidence, advocate for themselves, and grow their leadership abilities.
In addition to registering as a participant, students can host a "teen-preneur" booth to sell products or services or submit a 30-minute workshop proposal.
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Highlights from the NCGS "Listening & Learning Tour"
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Last month NCGS Executive Director Megan Murphy attended The Head's Network meeting and NAIS Annual Conference in Northern California. Here's what she said from the road:
"Sissy Wade and her talented board members at The Heads Network planned a superb program in Napa, California, that challenged school leaders to 'uncork innovation' and change the world one idea at a time. I was delighted and very proud that four of the keynote speakers were graduates of girls' schools, including Lincoln, Castellija, Hockaday, and Marlborough. The program inspired me with new ideas for the Coalition's upcoming conference, 'Education Innovation: Building Cultures of Creativity' being held June 25-27, 2017, in Washington, D.C. at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park.
I enjoyed attending the annual NAIS Conference in San Francisco where I presented alongside Caryn Pass of Venable LLP. The theme of the conference was 'What's Your Story: The Power of Trailblazers, Catalysts and Calamities,' and I appreciated sharing the trailblazing work undertaken by NCGS to provide our members with resources related to transgender students and gender identity. To learn more, please click here."
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