Boys' Academic Failure

The worry that boys are falling behind girls academically has repeatedly made headlines this year. But debate continues over whether this is actually true.

Nationally, boys lagged behind girls in the 2004 NAEP exams in reading at every age tested. The problem worsened as boys moved from elementary to middle to high school. At age 9, boys scored an average of five points lower than girls in reading; at 17, they scored 14 points lower. And some educators say state standardized test results reveal a similar gender gap.

Is there a crisis here? Some education experts think so, and they cite a range of possible causes, including schooling practices that are not "boy-friendly" and the nation's emphasis on standardized testing. Kathy Stevens, director of training at the Colorado -based Michael Gurian Educational Institute, which helps schools and parents improve learning environments for boys and girls, summarizes the main concerns:

• Our educational system is "obsolete," she says. "It was developed during the Industrial Revolution to prepare students for a world of factories and manufacturing, and now it's the 21st century - the Information Age."
   


• Past concerns about girls led to years of efforts to boost their achievement in science and math. The flip side, Stevens says, is that while girls have progressed, boys have fallen behind.
   


• Boys and girls really are different. "We've learned in recent years that boys' and girls' brains are wired differently, so that they process information differently," Stevens says.