It's no big secret that the quality of American education is poor. According to the article “The United States is 17th in global education rankings; Finland and South Korea Claim Top Spots” by Amrutha Gayathri, it’s obvious from the title alone that the United States is lagging behind. Without change, the United States will continue to lag behind in education. A problem currently plaguing the American education system is that of gender bias. Gender bias in schools has been addressed in legislation, but it persists in American schools, such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title 42 of the United States Code, Chapter 21 regarding civil rights. Both laws attempt to discourage gender bias by making discrimination based on sex illegal. Title IX addresses bias in federally funded educational and athletic programs in U.S. schools and colleges. Title 42, Chapter 21 of the United States Code prohibits discrimination based on sex, age, race, religion, and other characteristics in a number of contexts, including education. Despite these laws, gender bias is still prevalent in American schools. One proposed solution to gender bias is creating gender-segregated classrooms, which have proven to be a popular alternative to co-ed classrooms. Leonard Sax, author of “Six Degrees of Separation: What Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences,” is a leading proponent of single-sex schools. Single-sex schools are not without their critics, however. Jaclyn Zubrzycki's article, "Single-Gender Schools Scrutinized," argues that single-sex environments "are not inherently beneficial for boys or most girls." Considering Zubrycki and Sax's findings, it would seem that the ideal solution to free the American education system from gender... middle of paper ...... teachers believe that boys are smarter than the girls. Scantlebury found that teachers who believe that boys are more competent than girls in mathematics are more likely to rephrase and break down questions "into a series of simpler questions" in an effort to help the student find the answer. Such luxury is not afforded to girls in mathematics classes. Teachers are more likely to rephrase the question and ask another student to answer it; typically the student teachers selected to answer the question were a boy (Scantlebury). It is clear that in classes perceived to be male-oriented, teachers are willing to work more in-depth with men. Interestingly, Scantlebury found the opposite in “subjects perceived as feminine.” Teachers spend more time with female students than male students in subjects they consider female-oriented..