AAUW Study Says No Boys Crisis

The authors of a study released in May of 2008, Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education conclude that income is the determining factor for success and not gender. The AAUW is hailing this study as evidence that girls are not doing better in school than boys.

Opposing View

Paul Reville, a supporter of the belief that boys indeed are on the short end of the stick in school, states, "We just have a variety of indicators that should cause us to be alarmed and to recognize that there is a real gap, and quite possibly a growing gap, between boys and girls that is going to take some concerted effort." Reville is the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy dedicated to improving public schools [Valerie Strauss, washingtonpost.com, May 20, 2008].

AAUW Research Conclusion

Catherine Hill, co-author of the report and director of research at the AAUW Educational Foundation states the main conclusions of the study.

• There is a literacy gap favoring girls. It is not new, nor is it increasing. Over the past 30 years, girls have scored better in reading on the NAEP but the gap has stayed about the same.
• A gender gap favors boys in math on the NAEP, especially in high school.
• White male students have an advantage over white female students in math.
• Male and female Hispanic students have a smaller gender gap.
• Proficiency scores are improving for both boys and girls on the NAEP.
• Students from families with incomes $37,000 or below score lower in math and reading. Race and ethnicity are also small factors.
• There is no gap between boys and girls entering college after high school.

Contradictory Data On Boys vs. Girls

While the study concludes that there is no crisis for boys, it also states

• Girls have earned 57% of the bachelor’s degrees since 1982
• Girls have received an average high school g.p.a. of 3.09
• Boys have received an average high school g.p.a. of 2.86

Hill states that males graduating from high school and earning college degrees is at an all time high. Of course, it is. Baby boomers' children are entering college over the past few years in record numbers because high school populations are at an all time high. In five years, the numbers will decline because classrooms all over the nation are decreasing in numbers. The number of graduating seniors is larger than incoming students in kindergarten. More significant data would be at what percentage compared to girls are boys entering college?

Single Sex Classrooms Growing

The AAUW has been opposed to single sex classrooms. Research has shown that when boys and girls are separated, the advantage for boys is greater than the advantage for girls. Both do better, but boys benefit more. South Carolina is so impressed with this data that the state has a plan to offer single sex education in the entire state at the middle school level within the next few years.

The AAUW study does not address the fact that females dominate the majority of colleges with males being in the minority. Boys are more likely to be in the Resource Room. Boys are more likely to face disciplinary action in school. Boys process at a slower rate. Boys are more likely to drop out of school. Boys are more disorganized than girls are.

There is certainly justification to explore this topic further.

Source: Valerie Strauss, Washington Post.com, May 20, 2008

Boys and Girls Achieve Differently in School

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