When schools report their scores to the WCUSD board, I many times will ask for break outs on gender differences. We get information on race, economic status, special education, english language learners etc.. The state doesn’t require a breakout on gender.
Too many, including at least one WCUSD board member refuse to acknowledge what the statistics say. Boys are being left behind. Today in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune was a piece that tells the truth.
Here is part of it:
“The good news is that reading scores for 9- and 13-year-olds are the highest ever according to results released last week from the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The bad news is that boys trail girls in reading performance at all age levels. The gap at age 9 is 8 points, at age 13 is 8 points, and at age 17 is 11 points. This is not a new trend-boys have been scoring lower than girls on U.S. Department of Education reading tests for more than 30 years.”
We need to acknowledge it and work to help every child, including boys.
