There’s a lot of attention in the media this month on the issue of boys vs. girls when it comes to education. Did you see the January 30th Newsweek cover story about boys and girls in school? This story said that girls were better in school than boys. According to this article, “The Trouble with Boys”, girls are doing better in schools compared to boys thanks to the opportunities afforded by Title IX. While 30 years ago girls trailed boys academically it is now reversed with girls leading boys.What other reasons are there? Well the story goes on to say that there is a difference between male and female skill sets that impacts performance in school. These differences are then accelerated in middle school as girls are reaching sexual maturity a few years before the boys. Also, as a result of their learning differences nonachieving boys seem to comprise a greater proportion of referrals to special education programs.What happens when boys get to high school? According to this article, boys without a man in their life will have less chance of success and are more likely to drop out of high school. So what is the overall impact of all this? Women outnumber men in college enrollment.In addition, on January 12th PBS premiered a new documentary called “Raising Cain: Boys in Focus”. The documentary is hosted by child psychologist, Michael Thompson, Ph.D., who co-authored Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys. According to the documentary’s website it “explores the emotional development of boys in America today.”NBC has also featured articles on the Nightly News and the Today show about the issue.So what are your experiences with this boy vs. girl gap?Is the boy-girl gap in your state widening? If so, what is being done to address it?How often are low performing boys considered to be ADHD?References: The Trouble with Boys Mommy, I Know You (related essay) Raising Cain

I followed some of the links in the original article and came across this blog. I noticed in the original article a definite leaning towards conservative thinking. This blogger obviously comes at the issue from the liberal perspective. The chart she shows is interesting, but I can't trace it back to the source definitively. Another blog sources it to this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, but I don't have access to read it. That same blog also linked to this report from the American Council on Education Center for Policy Analysis which has a similar chart that only shows male achievement levels in regards to income. That chart shows the same numbers in regards to male students and income in 1995-96 though. For me, that chart opens up the question, how much of the gender gap can be attributed as a symptom of the poverty gap?

To hear a podcast of Michael Gurian discussing his book The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons From Falling Behind in School and Life click on Instapundit. In this podcast he talks about how boys learn differently, and how, in his view, changes in education have hurt their progress. He also offers some solutions, and some thoughts on videogames, character, and violence.

Our first posting in this discussion was generated from the recent Newsweek article "The Trouble with Boys." While doing an internet search on the widening acheivement gap between boys and girls I discovered two additional resources. One is an article from the California Educator addressing this topic in the March 2005 issue . It explores the achievement gap between boys and girls in California schools.The second is a June 2003 Business Week Online vidoe segment on "The New Gender Gap in School." To view this video segment you will need high speed Internet Access. Though the widening acheivement gap between boys and girls is not new. The questions remain how should we addresss it.

The conclusion by the researchers that a "gender gap" exists was not news to my wife, who is an intermediate school principal. She noted when disaggregating data three years ago that in her school, "it's the boys" that creates the biggest challenge. What she wants to know is what to do about it. Gurian and others put forth some fundamental ideas worth putting into practice as well as further research - without doubt, as teachers and school administrators, the better we understand the learning differences between the students we teach the more likely we are to better serve them. Two Points - From a teaching/learning paradigm it seems like the discussion is about "good instruction" and knowing who needs what aspect of good instruction. And as researchers, I caution my colleagues to not think of it as either/or when we talk about maleness and femaleness - I believe biologically it is rather clear that male and female fall on opposite ends of a continum with most of us falling somewhere inbetween the extremes.

I read the article, and also listened to the podcast that Art referenced above. I found the interview (podcast) quite interesting. They interviewed Michael Gurian, the author of "In the Minds of Boys", "The Wonder of Boys" and "The Wonder of Girls". He was talking about his most recent book, "In the Minds of Boy"s. The podcast offered two interviews, and Michael Gurian was interviewed in the first section, ending about 18 1/2 minutes into the podcast.He speaks to the cultural trends which have been to bring girls up to speed. In this process, the boys have slipped behind.He conveys that about 90% of teachers are feamle, and when that when teachers are trained on how boys' minds works, then they can make changes in the classrooms which help the boys. He speaks to the importance of boys having positive male role models (8, 9, 10 years of age). He also speaks to the fact that boys tend to need to be in some kind of team, and that the parents & teachers are not enough. He mentions that if boys do not find these "teams", then they will become involved in gangs.He mentioned that boys who are allowed to draw before they write (in panels) that they are more able to add sensory detail in what they write. He also mentioned:--Male brains develop reading/writing skills 1 1/2 years later than female brains--Male brains are more spacial, mechanical & kinesthetic (they need to touch things to learn)--Male brains don't retain as many words as female brainsHe also mentioned that industrial design schools (current model) are not good for 30-40% of males...but they are a good fit for 80-90% of females.He goes on to talk about aggression, violence & video games & his thoughts on these.Being a mother of two males (past school age now), and also being a former teacher (10 years in elementary), this makes a lot of sense to me. I found that when I built in more kinesthetic activities into my lessons, that the boys in my class really perked up & they tended to catch on better.I find this a fascinating subject. Thanks for sharing Art (and Tammy Duane).

Concern Lacking Over Dropping Boys' Enrollment in College Morning Edition, March 6, 2006 · American boys continue to fall behind girls in their enrollment numbers at the university level. Commentator Richard Whitmire asks where the boys are, and where the concern is over these falling rates.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5246877The segment is very general, but what caught my ear was a survey the commentator mentions at the end of piece. He says, only one half of the teachers in an elemtary school he visited knew about the performance gap between boys and girls. Do you suppose that is true in your area? My wife is intermediate (4/5/6) principal and she has been seeing it for the past few years when she reviews the data.

The boys vs. girls issue is front and center this week on Education Week's page one. The story reviews the experience of an Illinois educator and his observations on the topic. Then it proceeds to explore the theories offered to explain the boys - girls achievement gap. While the scholars and researchers may differ on the theories and studies they generally conclude that there is a problem. Perhaps the most telling perspective of this story is that of Judith Kleinfeld, a University of Alaska psychology professor who studies academic gender differences. Her quote ends the story. "They [young men] no longer see themselves as the provider of the family, so who and what are they suppose to be? Why not enjoy yourself and slide, earning a little money now and then when you need it?" To hear more about this topic join in on a Education Week web chat March 15th at 3:00 pm EST.

On March 15th Education Week sponsored an online chat on the topic "The Problem With Boys." Excerpts from that discussion plus a link to the full transcript can be accessed at Chat Wrap-Up: The Problem With Boys.While the issues raised are not new they are taking on a new urgency today.

Another report is out, this time from the Manhattan Institute, exploring the difference between boys and girls in school. On the 19th the Manhattan Institute released their report "Leaving Boys Behind: Public High School Graduation Rates" highlighting the difference in graduation rates between boys and girls. The evidence keeps mounting. Click here to view the article.

The issue of academic achievement among boys and girls has surfaced in the news media once again. The Washington Post reports today on the release of a new study by Washington-based think tank Education Sector casting doubts on the "boy-girl" crisis in education. Based on their analysis of data compiled from the National Assessment of Educational Progress the report's author beleives "widespread reports of U.S. boys being in crisis are greatly overstated and that young males in school are in many ways doing better than ever."While a wide gap between exists white boys and black and Hispanic boys and boys from low-income families, the author believes that it is due more to race and class then gender. To view the report click on Education Sector.Click on Washington Post to view their article about the report.