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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: boys.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 Funding
Opinion
It's Official: Women Now Workforce Majority
Economists have been saying this for months, but the government has made it official, as described in this New York Times article.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Willingham on the Progressives
Washington Post education columnist Valerie Strauss hosts a column by University of Virginia professor Daniel Willingham, someone I always go out of my way to read. Something isn't working in the way we teach reading, especially with boys.
Federal
Opinion
Opening Salvos on NCLB
Time to put down markers on the reauthorization of NCLB. That law, detested by most teachers and principals, opened up schools for (nearly) full data inspection. Schools were held accountable along the lines of race, ethnicity and income.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Why Boys Fail on Fox & Friends (and Elsewhere)
The book is starting to draw some serious interest, which may lead to the issue drawing some serious interest among educators. In this country, that would be a first.
Federal
Opinion
Interesting Stirrings in Alberta
Canada may be the latest country to leave the U.S. behind in searching for a solution to the boy troubles. School gender gaps there are every bit as stark as those found in this country, but public officials seem more open to addressing them.
Federal
Opinion
Jamaica's Take on the Boy Troubles
Until some flush foundation ponies up the cash to send on a worldwide fact finding trip about gender gaps, I'll rely on the google siphon to deliver my international findings. This from Jamaica.
Education
Opinion
New Tactic for Attracting Young Men
If colleges can start up football programs for the sole purpose of attracting more guys, why shouldn't churches sponsor ultimate fighting bouts to accomplish the same? Sounds like a good idea to the faithful profiled in this New York Times story.
Teaching
Opinion
What's the Point of Turning in Homework?
That's what I hear from boys, who in many cases do their homework but never bother turning it in. Sometimes they forget; other times they just think it's cooler to not turn it in.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Science Daily on the Boy Problems
The publication sums up Judith Kleinfeld's latest paper and offers some useful links to other gender gap issues.
Education
Opinion
The Puberty Wars
Boys, responding to the ever-younger ages that girls enter puberty, have their plans to ramp up their masculinity, as described in this New York Times piece.
Education
Opinion
Your Blogger on Fox & Friends
The Pew report on shifting economic relationships between men and women and the investigation by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights into college admissions discrimination against women are drawing attention to the gender gap issue. This Saturday I'll be a guest on Fox & Friends (at this point scheduled for 9:50 a.m. EST) to talk about those issues.
Federal
Opinion
British Boy Troubles
At age five, a third of poor boys in England can't write their names, compared to a sixth of poor girls, according the report described in the Guardian. In truth, this is just another indicator of the slow start boys everywhere get in verbal skills, which is why education reforms that have pushed intensified verbal skills into the earliest grades have impacted boys more than girls.
Education Funding
Opinion
The Jobs That Are Lost Forever...
Usually, the New York Times (what am I going to do with they duck behind a pay wall?) does a great job pointing out gender trends in economic stories. This time they let us speculate about which jobs aren't coming back.
Federal
Opinion
A Reminder That the 'Boy Troubles' Are International
In England, Australia and New Zealand, the problem of slipping academic aspirations by boys is a steady news story. Here, The Telegraph lays out the numbers about British males.