Gaps persist between boys’ and girls’ WASL scores, even with a diploma on the line.
Motivation to graduate helped propel boys as well as girls ahead on the reading, writing and math tests, educators say. In some cases, the gender gap has narrowed dramatically.
But a Herald analysis of 71,000 student scores from the spring 2006 administration of the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning shows there’s still significant ground to cover if equal numbers of boys and girls are to cross the commencement stage in 2008.
As high schools gear up for the next round of WASL tests this week, as many as 2,000 more junior boys than junior girls statewide remain at the greatest risk of being denied diplomas, having failed all three subjects.
The boy-girl disparity is like any other achievement gap, said Ken Collins, principal at Lake Stevens High School.
“It’s something we need to attack,” he said.
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The Herald first detailed the divide between boys’ and girls’ WASL scores in 2005. For that story, as well as this one, the analysis was based on student-level data provided by the state superintendent’s office.
Names and other identifying information were removed from the records, but results did show students’ gender and where they attended school.
Students in third through eighth grades, as well as in high school, take the WASL reading and math tests. Some grades also test in writing and science.
The test becomes a high-stakes issue in high school, when students must pass the reading, writing and math portions in order to earn a diploma.
Boys made vast improvements in 2006, among the sophomore class that will be the first class that will have to pass the WASL tests to graduate.
In 2005, 60 percent of boys failed at least one of the three tests, compared to 54 percent of girls. In 2006, that gap closed, with 51 percent of both boys and girls failing at least one test.
At the same time, boys have the furthest to go among those who have yet to meet the graduation standard.
More than 5,000 boys failed each of the reading, writing and math tests, compared to 3,000 girls. In all, boys make up 63 percent of all students who failed all three tests.
Writing and reading have proved the most challenging for boys, and, in 2006, they made strides in those subjects.
Boys improved at greater rates than girls, helping narrow the gaps in writing and reading. Still, girls had far less distance to cover.
At 17 of Snohomish County’s 19 traditional high schools, the percentages of girls passing the writing test were in the 80s and 90s. Boys met the same level of achievement at just six schools.
Statewide, boys made up 66 percent of all students who failed the writing exam in 2006, slightly worse than 2005. In reading, boys made up 59 percent of those who failed, little better than 2005.
Diploma is key incentive
Granite Falls High School junior Cameron Atworth spent two hours after school Tuesday – the warmest day this winter – in a preparation class for students retaking the writing WASL this week.
If it wasn’t a graduation requirement, Atworth said he wouldn’t get the extra help and probably wouldn’t try very hard on the exam. In middle school, he didn’t give his best effort.
“I didn’t care about it until it started to count,” he said.
Classmate Chase Waldo also signed up for the after-school prep class, foregoing time riding motorcycles with his brother to get WASL tips and extra writing practice.
“I just want to graduate,” he said.
Knowing the tests now count for graduation was significant to the success boys did see in 2006, educators say.
In Snohomish County, boys trailed girls in writing by 4 percentage points at Mountlake Terrace High School and by 19 percentage points at Sultan High School. In 2005, the range was 8 percent to 30 percent countywide.
“It shows when boys have to write, they can write,” said Nancy Katims, director of assessment and research for the Edmonds School District. “They can elaborate and give detail. They clearly know what they are supposed to do when push comes to shove.”
Math poses an equal challenge for boys and girls. Educators agree success on that test is best tied to the classes students take – not gender.
In reading and writing, schools are largely counting on retakes, test-preparation classes and efforts that address individual student needs to continue to close gaps.
Snohomish High School closed its gender gap in reading. Ninety percent of both boys and girls passed the test, one of the highest rates in the county.
There was no specific attention paid to boys, said Paula Koehler, executive director of teaching and learning for the Snohomish School District.
“The goals are the same for every kid, regardless of their gender,” she said. “We want all kids to perform at a high level.”
Writing is biggest hurdle
Still, boys continue to face greater challenges than girls on the writing and reading tests.
The starkest gap remains in writing, where 3,600 more boys than girls failed the test.
At 93 percent of Washington’s largest high schools, the percentage of boys who passed the writing portion of the WASL lagged behind girls, only a slight improvement from 2005.
Some high schools actually saw gaps widen.
At Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, for example, boys trailed girls on the writing test by 18 percentage points – more than twice the 8-percentage-point gap in 2005.
There was a similar divide among the 422 freshmen – including roughly even numbers of girls and boys – who chose to take the WASL a year early, according to the school.
“Obviously we’re not reaching as many boys as we are girls,” Principal Terry Cheshire said. “That’s something we’re going to have to really work on.”
Jackson High’s boys still performed well as a group, he added. Just less than 80 percent of boys passed writing, a rate that puts the school in the top 10 for the county. The school has the highest passing rate among girls in the county: 97 percent.
Higher scores make it harder to further close gaps, Cheshire said. “You’ve got to squeeze as hard as you can.”
Behind the numbers
At times, the reasons for ups and downs in boys’ passing rates at schools are more subtle.
Mountlake Terrace High School posted some of the biggest jumps in the county, with the pass rate among boys leaping 32 percentage points in writing.
The school has focused on reading and writing the last two years. Motivation to get a diploma also helped, Principal Greg Schwab said.
But the school also was helped by flexibility from the state, including a change that lets some students with learning disabilities pass WASL tests with lower scores.
More boys than girls fill the rolls of special education and were eligible for the accommodation.
Without the lower passing scores given to nine boys, the gap with girls in writing would have been 8 percentage points instead of 4 percentage points.
Statewide, lower passing scores had little effect on the gender gap.
Students who refuse to take the WASL or simply don’t show up also can affect scores. Boys made up 61 percent of the more than 2,000 students statewide who ditched the test.
Lake Stevens High School saw the gender gap in reading about double to 13 percent – one of the largest gaps in the county – because of the trend.
Nearly four times as many boys as girls at the school – 26 boys and seven girls – were given zero scores for not taking the test.
If zero scores were factored out, the school’s gender gap in reading would have remained even at about 6 percentage points.
School staff are mindful of boys’ needs, said Collins, the principal.
In recent years, English teachers have added books in ninth-grade classes that appeal to boys, such as Walter Dean Myers’ “Fallen Angels,” a novel set during the Vietnam War.
“We’re always consciously looking at reading materials that would broadly appeal, but especially to boys who don’t enjoy reading,” Collins said.
As at other high schools, however, those kinds of boy-focused efforts are limited.
Focusing on boys early
Like other achievement gaps, addressing the differences in boys and girls must start much earlier than high school, said Fran Mester, assistant superintendent in the Monroe School District.
And the increased focus on older students is helping drive those early efforts.
“We check for it now. We weren’t checking for it before to the degree we should have been,” Mester said.
At Edmonds Elementary School, second-grade teacher Lisa Hagar uses subtle strategies in her classroom with boys in mind.
Extra lamps for more lighting are used because research shows boys are more likely to stay focused in a well-lit room.
Students can grab clipboards and aren’t required to sit at their desks for writing exercises, a strategy aimed at helping boys who need to move around.
Books are everywhere, including spots one would least expect – on the bookshelf as well as near art supplies – to send a message that books aren’t just part of reading time.
The small adjustments are based on brain research that shows differences in the brains of girls and boys.
In the book that he co-wrote, “The Minds of Boys,” Spokane researcher and counselor Michael Gurian makes the case that girls’ and boys’ minds work differently. Girls tend to be more verbal learners; boys, more spatial, mechanical and physical.
While most children can learn either way, many others struggle.
Some girls, Hagar included herself, have taken tests indicating they are more spatial thinkers, a trait associated with boys. Being aware of the research and using different teaching techniques can serve both genders well, she said.
“What’s good for the boys will be good for the girls,” Hagar said.
Less than two miles away at Edmonds-Woodway High School, Dean of Students Jeff Wentzel came to the same conclusion.
“There is not a superior brain one way or another,” he said. “There are just different learning styles. My hope would be we can redo the way we do schools so we can meet more students’ learning styles.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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