FIVE
POWERFUL STRATEGIES FOR
CONNECTING
BOYS TO SCHOOLS
Paper for White House Conference on
Helping America’s Youth
Indianapolis, Indiana
June 6, 2006
Judith Kleinfeld
Director, Boys Project
Professor of Psychology
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
ffjsk@uaf.edu
The nation has succeeded in removing the
barriers to the success of girls in schools, and the achievement of girls is
soaring. Now girls score almost equal to boys in the areas in which they fell
behind in the 1970s–– mathematics and science achievement. Now more young women
than young men graduate from college.
Congress passed the Gender Equity Education Act in 1994, educators
heeded the call and launched into action with stunning success.
Now the nation
needs to do the same for boys. Many boys, especially boys of color, lag far
behind in school achievement. The biggest problem lies in the essential skills
of reading and writing where the typical boy lags a year and a half behind the
typical girl. Boys who are unable to
read and write with competence, can not get good jobs and can not become well
informed citizens.
The National
Assessment of Educational Progress, mandated by Congress in 1969 to measure the
academic success of America’s youth, offers the best and most comprehensive
measure of the achievement of students across the nation. These tests show that boys are in trouble,
not only boys of color, not only boys of poverty, but boys themselves.
Most of us are not
aware of the sheer size of the gender gap in literacy. Government reports do not trumpet these
numbers. This presentation is the first
time, to my knowledge, that these numbers have ever been presented. Take a look
at the reading and writing achievement of boys whom we would most expect to do
well, the sons of college educated parents––your sons and grandsons and the
young men available for your daughters to marry. Take a look at the literacy of 12th
graders, seniors in high school, those young men who have hung in there and not
dropped out. At the end of high school,
23% of the white sons of college educated parents––almost a quarter–– scored
“Below Basic” in reading achievement, compared to only 7% of their female
counterparts.[1] (See Table). We are not talking about
boys who read at the Basic Level. We are
not talking about boys who read at the Proficient level. We are not talking about boys who read at
the Advanced Level. We are talking about
boys who read “Below Basic.” This means
that almost one in four boys who have college educated parents can not read a
newspaper with understanding. What kinds of jobs can they get in the
information age, where not only professionals but also mechanics must be able
to read complicated directions? Even
more alarming, the reading skills of these boys––the white sons of
college-educated parents––have dropped substantially over the last ten years.[2]
In schools as they
are structured today, boys of color fare far worse. At the end of high school,
43% of the African-American sons of college educated parents scored “Below
Basic” in reading achievement, compared to 33% of their female counterparts.
Among Hispanics, 34% of the sons of college educated parents scored “Below
Basic” compared to 19% of their female counterparts.
Writing scores tell
the same story. Boys of every ethnic and
socioeconomic group are falling far behind girls of similar backgrounds.[3]
Four times as many white sons of college educated parents fall “Below
Basic” in writing achievement compared to girls of similar backgrounds; almost
twice as many African-American boys; and more than twice as many Hispanic boys.
Many boys are
disengaging from school. The U.S.
Department of Education’s surveys of student commitment show that boys are far
less likely than girls to do homework or to come to school with the supplies
they need. Many boys are becoming
alienated from school because they do not see schools as “fair.” In one study, junior high school and high
school boys were significantly more likely than girls to say that they believed
“teachers did not show genuine concern for their learning” and that they
“personally felt they were not treated fairly in school.”[4]
Of course, teachers
are genuinely concerned about the learning of both boys and girls. Most
teachers are doing their utmost to reach every student in their classes, but
teachers face numerous challenges–––the pressures of large classes, of students
who do not show up to class or who are disruptive in class, of students who do
not sit still when they teach, of school settings which are poorly adapted to
the developmental needs of many children and especially many boys.
The Boys Project
The question we face as a nation is what to
do. We need the energy of our sons as well as our daughters if we are to
prosper. How can we increase the success
of boys in reading and writing as we have done for girls in science and
mathematics? How can we engage boys in
school despite many boys’ belief that success in school is “unmanly” and “uncool”? The Boys
Project has brought together experts in boys’ issues from a diversity of
backgrounds and viewpoints to set an agenda for action and to identify the most
promising strategies for change (www.boysproject.net).[5]
These are five such powerful interventions. We can put them into place now.
Strategy 1: Educate Teachers on Gender Differences in
Development and Learning
Many
teachers know from common experience and many studies show that boys and girls
often differ in the ways they develop
intellectually and in the ways they learn. This does not mean we should
stereotype boys or girls. Children are
individuals. But boys are typically more
active than girls and more action-oriented in their styles of learning. Many boys find sitting still in a classroom
and paying attention to a constant flow of words far more difficult than girls
do. Such boys are often diagnosed as
suffering from “attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder” and put on medications which may be dangerous to their
developing brains.
Instead of trying to
change boys, many creative teachers are changing their classrooms. The Gurian
Institute has developed a wealth of “boy
friendly” teaching tools, like letting boys do origami while listening to
stories which keeps them awake and alert, using squeezable stress balls, and
teaching academic concepts through physical movement.[6]
Many of these techniques benefit girls as well, especially girls with
kinesthetic styles of learning.
Single sex schools
and classrooms offer excellent opportunities for putting into practice
boy-friendly teaching strategies. Some teachers in all-boys classrooms, for
example, have removed desks and chairs altogether because they find young boys
learn better when they stand up and move around.[7]
Teachers also need
to know that boys and girls typically enjoy reading different texts. The research on gender and literacy shows
that boys are more “inclined to read informational texts,” that they are “more
inclined to read magazine articles and newspaper articles,” and they are “more
enthusiastic about reading electronic texts than girls are.”[8] To
help boys learn to love reading, we need to offer far more choice than we now
do.
In short, we need
to educate teachers about the biological and neurological differences between
boys and girls and the motivational strategies––like working hard so your
classroom team will succeed––that engage boys in school. Teachers are hungry for this knowledge, and
we already know far more about what to do than we are actually doing.
Strategy 2:
Start School at a Later Age for Slower Developing Boys
One of the easiest
ways to increase the success of boys in school is simply to start boys who are
developing more slowly in language and fine motor skills later in school when
they are more physically mature. Boys
typically take longer to learn how to read.[9]
Boys typically are slower at developing the fine motor skills needed for
neat, legible writing. School is
getting more difficult for slower developing young boys because schools are now
teaching academic skills at younger ages.
In many school districts, children now are taught in kindergarten the
academic skills that used to be taught in first grade.[10]
Unable to compete
with faster developing, more verbal girls, many boys are apt to conclude that
they are “no good” at schoolwork and
disengage. This should not be
surprising. Most of us do not invest
emotionally in areas where we think we can not do well, whether it is sports or
school.
Delaying a child’s entrance into kindergarten
is far more effective than failing a child later on. Children who repeat a
grade conclude that they are “dumb” and become even more alienated from school.
Strategy 3: Create “Focus Schools” Which
Offer Nurturing, Personalized Education
Boys
need nurturing just as much as girls do, but the “cool, tough masculine” pose
that many boys adopt keeps people at a distance.[11]
Small schools with a specific, shared focus can break down this shell
and connect boys with nurturing adults. Many “focus schools” are charter schools
within the public education system, such as academies which emphasize college
or career preparation. Many “focus
schools” are single sex schools. These
schools create a culture stressing not only academic achievement but also good
human relationships and good character.
An excellent
example is the “Excellence Charter School” of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.
This all-boys charter school began in 2004 with a class of 88 kindergartners
and is adding a grade each year. The
boys wear school uniforms and learn that it is “cool” for boys to be smart,
curious scholars. The principal, Jabali Sawicki, who himself comes from a
single parent home, can connect with the children emotionally and talk to them
about good character in a language that they can hear, in a language that
touches the heart. The school focuses not only on reading and mathematics but
also on values like teamwork and perseverance. In May, 2005, at the end of the
school’s first year, 80% of the first grade boys scored at or above grade level
in mathematics; 78% scored at or above grade level in language, and 65% scored
at or above grade level in reading on TerraNova
standardized tests.[12]
Strategy 4: Connect Boys in Groups with Caring Adults
Educators
have long recognized the power of teams and coaches in helping adolescent boys
get on the right track in school and in life.
But the principles that make teams and coaches effective in reaching
boys apply to realms beyond sports.
Teams create peer group buy-in by connecting boys as a group to caring adults. The team creates emotional security
and individual boys do not want to let their team down by sloughing off.
“Band of Brothers.”
a school-based mentoring program created by Jonathan Shepherd at Sycamore
Elementary School in Crowley, Texas, shows what one school administrator can do
for boys of poverty.[13]
Adult men, community volunteers, come to school once a week, usually on
their lunch hour, to develop mentoring relationships with boys. Band of
Brothers teaches the hidden rules for success, such as the importance of goal
setting and positive self-talk, and the language of negotiation. When boys are inducted into the group, they
agree to live up to the Band of Brothers Code of Conduct and to hold each other
accountable. Some boys post the Code of Conduct in their bedrooms.
Strategy 5: Respect Boys
The
“Boy Problem” has been created by a profound and disturbing cultural change
that goes far beyond what happens in schools.
All of us sense immediately and viscerally whether people respect us,
and boys do not get respect. Many among
the “educated elite” have lost respect for what used to be considered “manly
virtues.” These include 1) physical
courage, used in the service of noble ends, 2) singleness of purpose, energetic
devotion to one overarching goal, and 3) emotional restraint, what we used to
call “grace under pressure.”
We shut boys down,
labeling the rough and tumble play characteristic of all juvenile male primates
“violence and aggression,” labeling immature attempts at romance “sexual
harassment,” labeling spiritedness, the quality of the soul the Greeks called thumos, “rebellion and defiance.” When we shut boys down, why should we be
surprised when so many of our boys become lifeless and dispirited?
What will turn around the “Boy Problem” is not
only programs and classroom strategies but, just as important, a sea change in
our attitude toward boys. The Women’s Movement drove such a change in our
attitude toward girls. The Women’s Movement deserves credit for changing our
expectations of girls and for developing an appreciation of the qualities girls
bring to the table, such as the ability to multi-task and their relational
skills. We need as well to respect boys––to appreciate their energy, their
spiritedness, their offbeat ideas, and, yes, even their rebellion and defiance.
This energy moves us forward as a culture.
This is the bottom line: We need now to pay attention to boys and to respect boys. Enjoy your own creativity in figuring out how to create schooling where both boys and girls succeed.
TABLE: Achievement of 12th
Grade Males and Females by Parents’ Education and Ethnicity
White Twelfth-Graders
With At Least One College Graduate Parent Who Score "Below Basic" by
Gender and Subject
|
Subject |
Male |
Female |
|
Reading |
23% |
7% |
|
Writing |
25% |
6% |
|
Mathematics |
19% |
17% |
Hispanic Twelfth-Graders
With At Least One College Graduate Parent Scoring "Below Basic" by
Gender and Subject
|
Subject |
Male |
Female |
|
Reading |
34% |
19% |
|
Writing |
39% |
17% |
|
Mathematics |
40% |
49% |
African-American Twelfth-Graders
With At Least One College Graduate Parent Scoring "Below Basic" by
Gender and Subject
|
Subject |
Male |
Female |
|
Reading |
43% |
33% |
|
Writing |
45% |
24% |
|
Mathematics |
57% |
60% |
Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress
[1] In doing these analyses, I used the variable “parental educational level” from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which classifies students as coming from college educated parents if one or both parents completed college. These figures come from the NAEP reading assessment in 2002, the most recent year for which information is available.
[2] In 1992, 13% of the white sons of college
educated parents scored at “Below Basic” in reading skills at the 12th grade
level. In 2002, the most recent year for
which we have NAEP reading scores, 23% of this group scored “Below Basic.”
[3] In 2002, the NAEP writing assessment
shows that 25% of the white sons of college educated parents scored “Below Basic” compared to 6% of girls from the same
backgrounds. Among African-American sons of college educated parents, 45% of
boys fell “Below Basic” compared to 24% of comparable girls. Among Hispanic sons of college educated
parents, 39% fell “Below Basic” compared to 17% of comparable girls.
[4] Sharon L. Nichols and Thomas L. Good,
Students’ perceptions of fairness in school settings. Teachers College Record, 100 (2), 1998, pp. 369-401.
[5] The Boys Project was developed in
January, 2006 to find ways to increase the success of boys in school and
life while maintaining or increasing the
gains of girls. The board members are
listed at this website: www.boysproject.net
[6] Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens, The Mind of Boys. Jossey-Bass:
2005. See generally www.gurianinstitute.co
[7] This example comes from Leonard Sax, Why Gender Matters, New York: Broadway
Books, 2006, pp. 252-253.
[8]
For an excellent summary of the research on gender and literacy, see
Michael W. Smith and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, “Reading
Don’t Fix No Chevys”: Literacy in the Lives of Young
Men. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann,
2002, pp. 10-12.
[9] Smith and Wilhelm, Ibid,, p. 10.
[10] John Holloway, When children aren’t ready for kindergarten. Educational Leadership, April 2003, pp. 89-90. See Leonard Sax, Reclaiming kindergarten: Making kindergarten less harmful to boys. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 2001, 2 (1), 3-12.
[11] See William Pollack, Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1998 for an
illuminating discussion of “The Boy Code” and the way this “mask of masculine
bravado” cuts off feelings and connections.
Pollock coined the term “The Boy Code” to describe the shell many boys
adopt to feel tough and confident.
[12]
More information about Excellence Charter School and these test results
may be found at http://www.uncommonschools.org/ecs/home/index.html.