Boys’ education crisis may be overstated

WASHINGTON – A recent study looking at long-term trends in test scores and academic success argues that widespread reports of American boys being in crisis are greatly overstated and that young males in school are in many ways doing better than ever.

Using data compiled from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federally funded accounting of student achievement since 1971, the Washington-based think tank Education Sector found that over the past three decades boys’ test scores are mostly up, more of them are going to college and more are getting bachelor’s degrees.

Although low-income boys, like low-income girls, are lagging behind middle class students, as a gender boys are scoring significant gains in elementary and middle school and are much better prepared for college, the report says.

It concludes that much of the pessimism about young males seems to derive from inadequate research, sloppy analysis and discomfort with the fact that while the average boy is doing better, the average girl has gotten ahead of him.

“The real story is not bad news about boys doing worse,” the report says, “it’s good news about girls doing better.

A number of articles have been written over the past year lamenting how boys have fallen behind. The report, “The Truth about Boys and Girls,” explains why some educators think this emphasis is misplaced and fear a focus on gender differences could sidetrack federal, state and private efforts to put more resources into inner city and rural schools, where both boys and girls need better instruction.

“There’s not doubt that some groups of boys – particularly Hispanic and black boys and boys from low-income homes – are in real trouble,” says the report by Education Sector senior policy analyst Sara Mead. “But the predominant issues for them are race and class, not gender.”

Black and Hispanic boys test far below white boys, the report noted. The difference between white and black boys in fourth-grade reading last year was 10 times as great as the improvement for all boys on that test since 1992. Still, the report noted that the performance of black and Hispanic boys is not getting worse. The average fourth-grade reading scores for black boys improved more than those of whites and Hispanics of both sexes.

Craig Jerald, an educational consultant who has analyzed trends for both the federal government and the newspaper Education Week, said “(Education Sector) is right to call foul on all the crisis rhetoric, and we should stop using that word, though there are a few troubling statistics and trends that deserve further investigation.”

He noted a huge gap in writing skills between girls and boys, bad results in reading among older boys, and a sharp drop in high school seniors’ positive feelings toward school that is even worse among girls than boys.

According to the report, reading achievement by 9-year-old boys increased 15 points on a 500-point scale between 1971 and 2004, while girls that age increased 7 points, which puts them 5 points ahead of boys. Reading achievement for 13-year-olds improved 4 points for boys and 3 points for girls, with girls 10 points ahead. Among 17-year-olds there was almost no change in reading achievement, with girls up one point, boys down one point and girls 14 points ahead.

In mathematics achievement between 1973 and 2004, 9-year-old boys gained 25 points and girls 20 points with boys ending up three points ahead. Thirteen-year-old boys increased 18 points and girls 12 points with boys three points ahead. Among 17-year-olds, boys lost one point, girls gained four and boys were three points ahead.

The report noted that boys are far more likely to be diagnosed with learning disabilities. Two thirds of students in special education are male. But, it noted, “the number of girls with disabilities has also grown rapidly in recent decades, meaning this is not just a boy issue.”