Why Boys Fail
This blog was written by Richard Whitmire, a former editorial writer at USA Today and past board president of the National Education Writers Association, and a frequent opinion commentator on national education issues. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: boys.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Jailed Youths Getting 'Chartered'
Education Week has a nice profile of a Washington charter school working with youths serving time. Here's a revealing comment from one of the youths:
Federal
Opinion
More Canadian Interest in the Boy Troubles
This from Ontario. Everyone is puzzling over the same thing: how do we redesign instruction to keep boys from falling behind?
Education
Opinion
The Jewish Gender Gap
Interesting. Seventy percent of those in organized Jewish activities are girls.
Education
Opinion
Violent Video Games a First Amendment Right?
That's the argument from the makers of "Halo," who want to keep selling and renting to the under-18 audience.
Special Education
Opinion
We All Know Who Is Being Fed These Drugs
Too many children are being given anti-psychotic drugs to alter behavior, according to this research. What the article does not point out is that roughly four times as many boys as girls receive these drugs.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Does Screen Reading Count?
It should, according to this study. I'm not so sure the experience is the same, and I'm betting this hurts boys more than girls, who are more likely to read traditional books.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Students Try Harder for Male Teachers?
That's the conclusion of this British study. I have not seen any studies in this country reaching that conclusion. What's interesting about this study is that both girls and boys did better when taught by teachers.
Special Education
Opinion
The Irony of Football = College Admits
As pointed out in this letter to the editor in the Post, the efforts by small colleges to draw more men can backfire. If federal authorities/legal precedent concludes that granting admissions preferences to males is illegal, including preferences to fill out those football teams, then all gender weighting favoring men gets eliminated. Which pushes up the percentage of women, which in turn triggers Title IX sports restrictions, which in turn eliminates the football team. How about a female football team? That would work.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Football = Male College Admits?
That's a strategy some colleges are using to attract men. Maryland's Stevenson College is the subject of a page 1 Post article today.
Education
Opinion
The Sorry State of Manhood
That's the subject of two books reviewed in The Wall Street Journal.
Education
Opinion
News About Your Blogger
DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, who wrote a great foreword for Why Boys Fail, is the subject of a biography I'm finishing that will be released in late January, The Bee Eater.
Science
Opinion
Gender Gaps Too Politically Incorrect for NYT Ed Page?
The New York Times writes a (nearly) great editorial today about the slipping proportion of science and engineering majors (we now rank 27th out of the 29 comparable wealthy nations) and somehow neglects to mention why this happening: the campus gender gaps.