Boys vs. Girls

My response comes from a series in the Maine Sunday Telegram titled "The New Gender Gap." The articles focus "on the disparity between boys' and girls' academic performance."

My response:

"I applaud your efforts to take on a topic such as the growing gaps in educational attainment based on gender. That being said, the theme of the several articles seems to be probing how we can change the trend organizationally, not culturally. In the fifteen years I have been an educator, I have seen countless students, mostly boys, openly question why they need to read and write so much in school because their career choice doesn't require it. Teachers correctly point out, as does your series, that those jobs are disappearing and we won't be around for the next generation. Unfortunately, most of the damage has already been done, as parents, friends, and other male role models have a tendency to pass on their school experiences. If they were unpleasant or did not require the skills we demand today, the message that reaches impressionable boys is that it isn't necessary to acquire these skills. After all, they all know someone who has been successful with a limited education. What has changed in high schools across the country is the raising of academic expectations to ready students for an ever - changing world. Clearly the girls as a whole have embraced this paradigm shift much more readily than the boys have. If we want to raise the academic performance of all students, and in particular males, we have to create a culture of lifelong learning for all students."