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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: boys.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
How the Recession Plays Out in Reading, Pa.
New York Times profiles Reading, a small city with the nation's highest poverty rate. Sad story, but it is instructive to see how the male/breadwinner, education gap and marriageable mate issues play out in a place like Reading:
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Pushback Against the Pushback
Advocates for single sex schooling, both educators and parents, are making their argument.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Chadwell on the Science Article Debate
Given that single sex schools appear to be the only policy solution currently on the table to stabilize the academic aspiration plateau we've seen among boys, the debate over the science -- or lack of science -- behind separating the sexes is an important one.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Leonard Sax Responds to the Science Article
Sax was singled out in the piece, which portrayed the logic behind single sex education as 'pseudoscience.'
Curriculum
Opinion
Boys: Too Important to Fail
An ebook by Tavis Smiley to match his PBS special on the crisis facing black males is out: Too Important to Fail: Saving America's Boys.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Impact of Science article on Single Sex
This article could shift the debate on single sex education, which over the past several years has enjoyed wide support among educators. Due mostly to the declining academic performance of boys, school districts have been ramping up their single sex offerings. The strategy is based on the conventional wisdom that boys and girls learn in very different ways -- a notion that has come under increasing fire.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Think College Gender Gaps are Already Lopsided?
Then buckle up, because they are about to get steeper, according to projections from the U.S. Department of Education.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Single Sex Education as 'Pseudoscience'
That's the argument that Pink Brain, Blue Brain author Lise Eliot and coauthors make in Science. Here's a podcast version.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
'Reading Partners' Comes to NYC
The one-on-one tutoring program aimed at young students who have fallen behind in reading -- and boys would dominate that group -- continues to proliferate.
Education
Opinion
The 'Men are Finished' Debate
Slate reports that the side arguing men are finished won the debate at NYU, based on audience polling.
Education
Opinion
Boys Suffer More in High School Transition
The interesting study by Fordham Foundation on what happens to high achieving middle schoolers as they transition to high school (an alarming number take a performance dip) can be broken out by gender, as U.S. News shows.
Education
Opinion
More Rough and Tumble Needed in School?
Education professor Ali Carr-Chellman appears on NPR to explain her theories about how schools are not designed for boys. They get the message that their rough-and-tumble world is forbidden and conclude that school is for girls, she argues. Her solution:Let's introduce some video games to school.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
E.D. Hirsch Right (As Always)
Want to know why we see such poor reading and writing scores among 17-year-olds, just as they need them the most to take advantage of post-secondary training and education they need? Listen to Hirsch, who lays it out in a Times commentary: