Boys are doing poorly in school compared with their female classmates, reports Education Week. Boys score half a grade level lower in reading in third grade, nearly a year lower in eighth grade. Meanwhile, girls are catching up to boys in math. In high school, boys earn lower grades and take fewer advanced classes. They'll be less likely to go on to college and less likely to earn a degree if they do.
What works for boys? As part of Ed Week's series on boys' struggles, Elizabeth Heubeck reports on an all-male Baltimore private school that's redesigned itself to be more "boy-friendly." That includes more opportunities for "unstructured play, in-person socializing and choice" about social activities.
The staff of Boys’ Latin School of Maryland read social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation, they read during the summer and decided to follow his recommendations.
“Haidt makes the point that we’ve overprotected boys in the natural world and under-protected them in the artificial [virtual] world,” said Chris Post, the head of school.
The school banned cellphones throughout the school day, as Haidt recommends.
Boys' Latin also added a voluntary outside play period from 7:30 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. for elementary students. Most students participate, even those who used to be late for school, said Gregory Schnitzlein, the head of the lower school.
They "start class calmer and more alert," school leaders say.
The “creative playground,” a formerly under-utilized 1,500 square foot grassy area of the school property adjacent to the playground, now intentionally resembles a junkyard. Old tires, plastic crates, tree branches, and even an old fishing boat encourage students to rely on their imagination for play. During recess one late October day, some boys gathered the scattered crates and stacked them as high as they could; others used branches to make pretend fires and talked about building forts.
The middle school’s morning schedule "also involves more independent time and choice than in years past," reports Heubeck.
The middle school now opens its doors at 7:40 a.m. Students can eat breakfast and chat in the cafeteria, or attend library sessions to work on homework or group projects, play cards or board games or read. Others choose to play ping-pong in the counselor's office or pick-up basketball in the gym. First period starts at 8:30 am. Some schedule one-on-one meetings with teachers.
The academic day for Boys’ Latin’s high school doesn't start till 9 a.m." Now, student clubs — all optional and peer-led, with a staff facilitator — start at 8 a.m., and students report at 8:45 a.m. to their advisories" before the start of class, writes Heubeck. "Even given the option to sleep in, the majority of high school students walk through the school doors around 8 a.m., showing up at one of 34 clubs, from Chess Club to Film Society."
There used to be program like this once upon a recent time.
It was called the Boy Scouts of America...
Once again, conservatives blame the achievement gap between blacks and whites on genetic IQ but blame the achievement gap between male and female students on women. Does not make much sense. And if one looked up Richard Reeves work on the issue, the percentage of male elementary school teachers had been going down for decades.
All four counsellors are white women. Not exactly a show of support for all male education.
https://www.boyslatinmd.com/about/faculty-staff?utf8=%E2%9C%93&const_search_group_ids=&const_search_role_ids=&const_search_keyword=counseling+&const_search_first_name=&const_search_last_name=
As Richard Reeves says, telling boys to be more like their sister does not work.
Has it taken this long for "educators" to finally admin that boys and girls are different and leanr and do things differently?
The real tell is what are the genders of the teachers and even more important, the counselors and mental health staff.