Study Casts Doubt On the 'Boy Crisis'
From washingtonpost.com :
A study to be released today looking at long-term trends in test scores and academic success argues that widespread reports of U.S. boys being in crisis are greatly overstated and that young males in school are in many ways doing better than ever.
Using data compiled from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federally funded accounting of student achievement since 1971, the Washington-based think tank Education Sector found that, over the past three decades, boys' test scores are mostly up, more boys are going to college and more are getting bachelor's degrees.
Although low-income boys, like low-income girls, are lagging behind middle-class students, boys are scoring significant gains in elementary and middle school and are much better prepared for college, the report says.
"There's no doubt that some groups of boys -- particularly Hispanic and black boys and boys from low-income homes -- are in real trouble," Education Sector senior policy analyst Sara Mead says in the report.
The difference between white and black boys in fourth-grade reading last year was 10 times as great as the improvement for all boys on that test since 1992.
Still, the report notes, the performance of black and Hispanic boys is not getting worse.
The average fourth-grade reading scores for black boys improved more than those of whites and Hispanics of both sexes.
The Detroit News said that "every year, women increase their presence on campuses nationwide, while men do not."
Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site.
Read more from this post.
