Does a teacher's sex matter to children?

Dom blogs about a new study that says children learn better from teachers of the same sex. I was thinking of my own experience both as a teacher and a student, and trying to remember if I noticed any any difference. I certainly had a lot of trouble with my 8th grade boys the first half of my first year teaching, but I attribute that mostly to the inexperience of a new teacher. Things got much better in the second half of the year. Of course, I attended and taught at a school with very small classes, which could make a difference.

So,I'm wondering what eveyone else's experience is as teachers? Do you find that your female students learn better? Or if you're a male, do you think that your male students learn better?