Are Boys Needs Being Neglected? Do Girls Need Special Attention?
When searching “gender issues in education”, 87,700,000 results came up. Not surprisingly, many were focused on educating females. There were also articles listed that discussed the needs of boys in schools. We’ve seen a lot of that in the media. For each “solution” (boys’ schools, special curriculum, special strategies, etc.), there are, no doubt, individual students who profit from that solution. Of greater interest are those who question whether boys are really at a disadvantage to girls. Searching national education statistics quickly begins to highlight: • …over the past three decades, boys’ test scores are mostly going up, more boys are going to college, more are getting Bachelor’s degrees. In reality, boys are not doing worse, girls are doing better. • …of greater concern is the huge gap in writing skills between girls and boys, lower reading scores in older boys, and a large drop in seniors’ positive feelings about school (girls more than boys). • …and although both made
