WHAT ABOUT HELPING BOYS!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/2 ... /808160323
By JOE MANTHEY


Published: Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 10:39 a.m.


On Aug. 1, The Press Democrat ran a column by Ellen Goodman, who, citing results of a recent National Science Foundation sponsored study, declared "girls do not lack the math gene. Nor are they math-phobic. Nor is there any 'intrinsic' difference -- thank you, Larry Summers -- between the abilities of girls and boys to succeed in the numbers business."


You may recall back in 2005 when economist and then president of Harvard University Lawrence Summers speculated that innate differences between the sexes might be one reason there are fewer women than men at the highest echelons of math and science, for which he was forced to resign. However, both past and current data support Summers' theory.

Goodman fails to appreciate the distinction between average performance and exceptional performance, namely, the type of performance generally required for reaching the highest echelons of math and science. The data show boys exhibiting greater variance in mathematical ability with girls represented more closely around the mean.

We as a community, as well as a nation, need to ask the next obvious question that was not asked by any news reporters or editors who covered the National Science Foundation-sponsored math study: If girls are now the equal of boys in math, and that fact is due to the boost the schools gave to girls through teacher trainings, curriculum development, conferences, and programs for the girls themselves, then why are there not similar efforts to close the biggest gender gap of all in K-12 education -- language arts -- where boys are behind girls at every grade level?

When girls were thought to be in trouble academically, we said "There must be something wrong with the schools," and we changed them to be more girl-friendly. But there is no similar push to assist boys academically. Instead, when boys don't do well in school, we blame the boys.

I had a Petaluma City Schools trustee -- a man -- tell me that the reason boys are behind girls academically is "because they're stupid." I had another man from the Petaluma City Schools -- a teacher -- tell me the reason was "because they're lazy."

While these examples are anecdotal, they reflect a common belief among many educators.

The California Department of Education recently released figures showing that the high school drop-out rate was significantly higher than previously thought -- nearly one out of every four students state-wide. What was omitted from these press releases and subsequent news reports and editorials was the fact that two out of three of them were boys.

It strains credulity to think that Jack O'Connell, the California state superintendent of public instruction, would have omitted this information if gender roles were reversed. Equity is never reserved for any one group and that being an advocate for equal education for all means just that. Our boys deserve attention, and to deny that is discrimination, plain and simple.

Joe Manthey is a Petaluma-based educational consultant and trustee for The Boys Project. Visit his Web site at http://www.joemanthey.com.