Do we have a “boy crisis” in our schools?
Books played an important role in my life growing up. They were stacked on book shelves in my bedroom where I spent hours fully engaged in the next story. My library card was well used on weekly journeys to the local public library to discover the next new world. I stayed up late at night reading, rarely left the house without a book in my backpack, and did quite well in school. On the other hand, my younger brother did not share the same passion or the same grades. An avid sports fan and athlete, he was constantly on the move. Even without weeknight TV and video-game privileges, his recreational reading, if any, was confined to the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Circumstances changed dramatically with age and time. After high school, with the help of an inspirational junior college professor and a clerk job at the local independent book store, my brother slowly transformed into reading dynamo. His grades and confidence in school improved. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a major in English, went to law school where he wrote for the law review, and today is our family’s go-to person for book recommendations. His reading list exceeds mine by volumes.
This sibling difference in pre-college interests and achievements sheds some light on a growing dialogue in the education community.
There has been a lot in the media recently about the “boy crisis” in education – the fact that female students are beginning to outperform their male counterparts at a somewhat alarming rate. As an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, I wrote my honors thesis on the history of female education in the United
This sibling difference in pre-college interests and achievements sheds some light on a growing dialogue in the education community.
There has been a lot in the media recently about the “boy crisis” in education – the fact that female students are beginning to outperform their male counterparts at a somewhat alarming rate. As an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, I wrote my honors thesis on the history of female education in the United