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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: boys.
Education
Opinion
From the Movies To Reality
Failure to launch, a phenomenon accelerated by the recession, happens to far more men than women.
Science
Opinion
AAUW's Positive Role In STEM
Collecting research on what will lure more women into STEM majors and careers -- an economic necessity created by campus gender gaps. If only the AAUW were more open to investigating the causes of those gender gaps in the K-12 years.
Education
Opinion
AAUW Official Looks At Her Own Family
...and discovers what a lot of families already know too well -- the girls are succeeding in school, the boys ... not so much.
Education
Opinion
More Blaming Fingers Pointed at Video Games
Valerie Strauss writes about a Playstation II study comparing boys who did, and didn't, receive the game. Guess which group fared better in school?
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Important Victory in Baltimore
In my book I profile a KIPP charter school in Washington that admits inner city boys who are far behind the girls (not to mention the rest of the nation) in literacy and in three years turns out both girls and boys reading at the same proficiency. Lesson learned: You don't have to separate the sexes to do justice for the boys.
Education
Opinion
Mark Bauerlein On Gender Gaps
Writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education about an op-ed I wrote that appeared in the Dallas Morning News -- a reprint of what appeared originally in the Chronicle. Make sense? Probably not, but Bauerlein is always worth reading (especially when he agrees with me!).
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Think You Know Everything About Gender Gaps?
Betcha don't.
Here's a news flash: Most of the college graduation gender gap between Hispanics and whites is due to the lapses by Hispanic males. Hispanic women graduate at roughly the same rate as white males.
Here's a news flash: Most of the college graduation gender gap between Hispanics and whites is due to the lapses by Hispanic males. Hispanic women graduate at roughly the same rate as white males.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Good Timing for Book on Boys and Reading
Reading expert William Brozo has updated his book, To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader, and it will be available in April. During my book research I leaned on Brozo for advice on reading instruction. There is no reason, he told me, why boys should not catch up with girls in literacy skills by fourth or fifth grades. Except they're not.
School & District Management
Opinion
CEP Report on Gender Gaps Released
The report from the Center on Education Policy should set the data foundation for future discussions. The conventional wisdom about girls doing better in reading while boys excel at math needs to be set aside to make room for the new reality, of girls and boys performing the same in math while boys lag badly in reading skills.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Making the Case that Fatherless Families are the Culprits
This columnist in the Guardian lays out the argument that the absence of black fathers is the trigger behind the dramatic problems black boys are experiencing in school.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Significant Reports on Boys Reveal the Reality
Wednesday, the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy releases its 50-state report on how boys/girls are faring on state tests. The state tests, which are given every year to all students in certain subjects, have to be considered the gold standard of gender gap snapshot measurements. The results will surprise you.
Education
Opinion
Gendercide: What happened to 100 million baby girls?
That's the cover from the Mr. 6-12 Economist, which continues to turn in great global reporting. Sex selection in China and India has produced gender imbalances that are far more dramatic than anything seen in this country (our closest: the gender imbalances among college-educated African Americans). But the basic lessons are similar, and worth watching.
Education
Opinion
Want to Know Why Campuses Are Unbalanced?
Take a look at this graphic (right) from MetLife's latest education survey.