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This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Close the Achievement Gap for Boys and Girls



      Who's smarter, boys or girls? That is unlikely to be answered definitively, but studies suggest boys aren't performing as well as girls in school.
       In New Mexico, 56 percent of boys complete high school in four years, compared with 65 percent of girls. Researchers studying a large New Mexico school district found boys were more likely to be second-year high school freshmen, twice as likely to be in special education and 1.5 times as likely to be written up for discipline than female classmates.
       “It's not a case that boys are dumber than girls,” says Leonard Sax, author of “Why Gender Matters” and “Boys Adrift.” Rather it's motivation, or the lack thereof. He ticks off other factors — video games that give boys a feeling of power and the prevalence of medications used for attention-deficit disorder that may damage an area of the brain “responsible for translating motivation into action.” Others cite the perception in today's culture that it's less masculine to be a good student and that in the push to make education more girl-friendly, boys were left behind.
       Educators grappling with the problem are looking for innovative solutions. At Double Eagle Elementary, for example, students were allowed to select topics for writing assignments. The result was more papers on aliens, the military and toilet humor, but also more enthused boys — and a narrowing of the gap between boys' and girls' test scores. The North Valley Academy charter school separates boys and girls in seventh- and eighth-grade classes to cut down on distractions and pressure to impress the other gender.
       Parents can help.
       New studies suggest exercise can make you and your child smarter — at least for several hours. A University of Illinois professor found 30 minutes for adults and 20 minutes for children resulted in a temporary 5 percent to 10 percent improvement in cognition, according to a Good Morning America report.
       Parents also can help by encouraging boys to read — especially topics that appeal to them such as action and adventure stories — to write journals and to discuss their feelings. Also, parents should stay involved in their sons' educations and be alert for signs of emotional distress in personality or behavior.
       Because at the end of the day, a boy's mind is too wonderful to watch wither.
       

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