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Girls Outperform Boys in Reading, Study Says
Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Tweens
A book is a powerful tool in the classroom gender wars. Credit: Getty Images
The battle of the sexes isn't just for boardrooms anymore. Gender wars continue to play out in classrooms across the nation -- and girls appear to be winning when it comes to reading.
A new study by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) that analyzed data from standardized test scores from school districts across the United States, finds boys lag behind girls in reading proficiency by 10 percentage points. In reading, boys did not outperform girls in any state and in any achievement level -- whether it was the basic, proficient or advanced level.
However, the same study reveals that, when it comes to math proficiency, girls show more ability in some states while boys are equally competent in math in other states. According to the CEP, using the standardized test scores from fourth, eighth and 11th graders shows the reading and math results prove to be consistent in elementary, middle or high school students.
The CEP study notes that the test scores, compiled from 2002 through 2008, include "at least three years of comparable test data for a particular subject, grade and achievement level."
Taking the data from test scores provided by all 50 states, the CEP analysis indicates that boys' reading skills lag behind girls' in some states, but in math, there was no state in which either gender outperformed the other by such a large margin.
In a press release, the center calls the disparity in reading the "most pressing gender-gap issue facing our schools."
"Our analysis suggests that the gap between boys and girls in reading is a cause for concern," Jack Jennings, CEP's president and chief executive officer states in the release. "Much greater attention must be paid to giving boys the reading skills they need to succeed in early grades and throughout their education."
The CEP determined that from 2002, when No Child Left Behind federal legislation was enacted, through 2008, more states had improved reading and math scores than had lagged behind. In fact, 24 states have narrowed gender gaps in reading. However, the gap has widened in another 14 states, the CEP release says.
"Researchers and state officials might investigate ways in which the school environment may be changed to better address the needs of boys," the report concludes.
Related: Toys 'R' Us Chided for Reinforcing 'Outdated Gender Roles'
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
3-17-2010 @ 8:08PM
Laura said...How is this news? Boys have lagged behind girls in reading and vocal skills since testing began. The thing is, girls USE to lag behind boys in math skills. But the mere fact that in many states, they are ahead in MATH, or equal, with NO large difference seen overall is a BIG change from the past.
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3-17-2010 @ 8:13PM
Joemensa said...Is it because we as a society are helping girls do better in these subjects...or it is because we as a society are hurting boys and hindering their success in these subjects?...or a combination thereof
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3-17-2010 @ 8:48PM
Billj5775 said...Duh, SInce when is this news? Except for the science magazines, Comic Books, and sports pages, women always have read more.They were always out front in this. It's one of a women's hobbies like painting toe and finger nails, scrubbing the calusus off of their feet and painting thier face and doing their hair and looking at themselves in the mirror. Males are usually out doing other things, except for the more effemenent of the species.
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3-17-2010 @ 8:52PM
b highsmith said...schools are increasingly hostile enviornments for young males.
check out article at:
www/popecenter.org/commentaries/article.html?id=2316
boys tend to "zone out" to get through the day.
Reply
3-17-2010 @ 9:11PM
Puddntane said...Schools are not hostile towards boys. If anything, through the ages everyone has bent over backwards for boys. Girls have always surpassed boys in language arts. About 60% of all the books in a bookstore should have been written by a female. Instead women are still made editors while males are promoted. We have always known that given a level playing field females would catch up and surpass males in math. Since females are outperforming males in everything, it is correct to assume that females are academically smarter than males, while males still have the superior upper body strength. Looking at all the test data, girls are just smarter than boys.
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3-17-2010 @ 10:02PM
Tim said...No, men dominate worldwide. It's not because we can do more pushups than our distaff counterparts. Try again.
3-17-2010 @ 10:38PM
Joe B said...Wow! Spoken like a serious hater of men. I'm so sorry that you feel oppressed by "the man". There is no question that the public schools have for decades now catered to girls at the expense of the boys. They did this because, with a level playing field, performance would not be equal between the sexes. Boys would certainly dominate in math, and most likely girls would do better at reading and spelling. In our politically correct world, no one could possibly accept that boys could be better at something than girls. Obviously there must be something holding the girls back. Or, maybe each sex just has things that they are better at. Why do we feel the need to interfere with the natural selection that takes place in things like this? When I went to school for my engineering degree, there were 2 girls in my classes of about 20 - 25 students. This was not because anyone was holding the girls back, it was because girls had less interest and, generally, less aptitude. It certainly was not because the girls weren't encouraged to go into engineering. They were all told that they would be guaranteed jobs, because companies were looking for female engineers to meet quotas. Sadly, many companies still hire people in the name of diversity (i.e. to fill quotas) and pass over more qualified people. Personally, that has never happened to me, but I know others affected by the PC monster. Most female engineers that I have known are better communicators, but much less technically proficient than the men. Many of them would never have even been hired if they were not women. Getting back to the original subject, I have a few things to mention in closing. I believe women probably make better editors. I believe that if you look at the top of the top performers in school, particularly on things like college entrance exams, you will find many, many more males on that list. And lastly, anyone who believes that performance in school alone determines a person's level of intelligence is not very intelligent themself. And, by the way, this is coming from a man who was valedictorian of his high school class.
3-19-2010 @ 11:16PM
mindnbodynyc said...Puddhtant..you ignorant, sexist puta..it's impossible to think of equality because of women like you, which is why i have some hardcore facts for you, you f**kin puta...1. in the past 20 years or so, feminism has created inequalities for men while fighting for women's rights, which has resulted in a laser focus on girls' academic development and a neglect on boys. 2. point #1 proves that at least on academics, we can't make conclusions beacause the playing fields are not leveled. 3. girls and boys/women and men have clear biological and neuroanatomical differences support women's superiority in verbal intelligence and men's superiority in advanced math (look up gray matter and white matter). women have made strides but they still cannot touch men in engineering, physics, and advanced math. 4. if you want to talk about data, the fact is that the vast majority of people who have the highest IQ scores (genius level IQ score) are men. This fact is hardly known and reported. in addition, science and IQ testing-despite the unlevled playing fields-support the premise that although men and women are equal in GENERAL intelligence, men's superioirity in math, science, and logic gives them a greater capacity than women for superior intelligence, which is why most geniuses are still male...because of women like puddntane, i love these hardcore facts..women don't want equality..they want to be able say that they are smarter than men-but the science supports the opposite-EVEN now when women have the upper hand..but it's okay..a men's movement is forming in this country to fight these feminists biitches.
3-17-2010 @ 10:14PM
Tsukasa said...Considering that all Humans start out as female, it is women who "dominate" worldwide. So no, you try again.
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3-17-2010 @ 11:27PM
JohnB said...As a middle school teacher, I can vouch for the effort to push girls over boys. Women teachers push girls programs, not boys. Women teachers have students write an essay about what they admire about women. They push me to give it to the students but I refused citing that no agenda will be pushed in my classroom.
All students are subjected to write it. I've heard women teachers cheer when the girls succeed no one has ever cheered for a boy. Women teachers show partiality toward girls in giving awards. At another middle school, I was the only male English teacher and gave half the awards to the boys and half to girls. All other teachers gave the girls awards and a token special ed boy. It was so bad that parents came up to me and asked why the boys were not getting any awards.
I blame the college women's organization that pushes its members to push the girls. One member secretly told me that the organization now thinks that maybe they have gone too far in promoting girls in schools.
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3-18-2010 @ 12:15AM
Sandee said...hate to tell you but that story was a spin that was leaked out a while ago and proven to be a hoax to build self esteen in black people ! (like many other spins on black history )
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3-18-2010 @ 3:45AM
Tsukasa said...http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Wonder-Twins-Paula-And-Peter-Imafidon-Are-Youngest-Children-Accepted-To-UK-Secondary-School/Article/201002415562289?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_4&lid=ARTICLE_15562289_Wonder_Twins_Paula_And_Peter_Imafidon_Are_Youngest_Children_Accepted_To_UK_Secondary_School
Sorry, no, it's not a hoax and neither are black history achivements. I don't know why people post things they have absolutely no idea about.
3-18-2010 @ 2:40AM
proud daddy said...all i know is that the education that children get in most public schools is lacking. both my children by age 10 were reading at college level (13+) and comprehending what they read.it does not matter what sex they are, it depends on the parents and what the children make out of their educations, with their parents caring and loving support children can accomplish anything. i read a recent article in the local paper about reading in the local public high school, the children there are just reading " TOM SAWYER" in 9th, 10th grade, my children were reading that in 3rd grade. should not everyone concentrate on education first, it is one of the few things in life that we can give our children to help them in the future
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3-18-2010 @ 3:52AM
Tsukasa said...@mindnbodynyc
Waaaa, waaa, waaa men's rights, waaa, waa, waaa, we want our crown back, waa, waa, waa.
Get real. What planet have you been living on? Certainly not Earth.
The person with one of highest IQs EVER is a woman. But IQ isn't everything. I'm tired of all this nonsense that's going around saying men are smarter than women. Every test ever done that's peer review sound science shows that there is no fundamental difference in achivement potential between the sexes.
But more to the point, this growing gap is indicative of a society where women are gaining more ground, while men struggle to find a new 'role' in society. I hope, and as our society grows, that men will come to understand that there is no set role. Be who you want to be. Once men free themselves from the chains of rote masculinity (well, society, since it is this that forces little boys down that path at a young age) achievement will increase. Until then, expect more of the same.
You keep doin' what ya doin', you keep gettin' what ya gettin'.
By the way, I'm a guy. :]
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3-18-2010 @ 6:41PM
mindnbodynyc said...@ Tsukasa..
you are an example of the girly, wussy man who has been feminized and blinded to the inequalities that men face in this country..even a FEMINIST has written a book about this issue titled THE WAR AGAINST BOYS: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men...there is very little that can be done to change wussy men like you..however, you should have enough brain cells to see how it is politically correct for a woman to say that women are smarter than men but if men say they are smarter, they are looked upon as sexist pigs..it's a huge double standard..my information is based on scientific research from both men and women in the field of sex differences..it is well established in psychology-and supported by neuroanatamy-that men and women differ in specific areas of cognition.
i would like to think that men and women are equal but different, but because i know there are sexist, feminists bitches out there that want some finding to show how women are smarter, i must hit them with the hardcore facts..it is a FACT that the vast majority of geniuses are men..
The highest IQ ever recorded was the 300 IQ of William James Sidis. Marilyn Savant, the woman you referred to, had an IQ of about 220. So, get your facts straight, girlie man.
also, no one claims that men and should have set roles. however, specific circumstances-such as child care-require men and women to best utilize their strenghts. Women are by nature more caring and nurturing than men, so the primary role of caregiver (at least for infants and toddlers) should come from the mother. No set roles but we can't dimiss the differences.
3-18-2010 @ 3:57AM
Tsukasa said...We should push children no matter what sex, sexuality or identity they assume.
However, does it stand to reason that maybe the so called focus on girls (which I don't really buy, considering the still large gender gap in the workforce and income) is because women have largely been ignored since recorded history?
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3-18-2010 @ 4:33AM
Mamanui said...As a second grade teacher, I, for one, am disappointed in the comments on this page. All the sexist references detract from this important issue. My experience, and a study in Finland, contend that boys brains are not physiologically ready to learn to read until age 8 or 9. So, one of the contributing factors that I see is that boys younger than this that are "taught" to read get frustrated because they are forced to try to learn a skill that they are not yet capable. This leads to resentment which leads them to dislike or evan hate reading. Add to this that, maybe as a response to the overwhelming demographics regarding girls as readers and boys as non-readers, most books written for emerging readers do not interest boys. The subject matter, most often, appeals to girls and perhaps a vicious cycle is to blame. Some writers (Matt Christopher, Gary Paulsen) do try to appeal to boys but often miss the mark because they are written for older kids and not emerging readers. To address this problem as educators, we have to re-think how we teach. This is not likely to happen on a National, State or even Local level. So, as parents I think the best thing for boys is to let them read what interests them, if it is a comic book (Garfield seems to be a particular favorite for boys in 2nd grade), Diary of a Wimpy Kid and similar books, age appropriate Manga books, (mostly) picture books, environmental print (makes a great travel / outing game - "Spot the word _____") the sports page, or even cereal boxes. Lets encourage reading in all it's forms not just a "boring" book in the classroom!
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3-18-2010 @ 4:49AM
Maytagtwin said...Girls can learn to read much earlier than boys, with some boys reaching age 9 or 10 before being ready to learn. Unfortunately, those boys who develop more slowly are subjected to considerable pressure to learn when they cannot. By the time they can, many have given up. A little patience on the part of the schools and parents can make it possible for more boys to do better. Engaging them in activities that are more suited to their needs and developmental stage, especially during ages 5 or 6 though 9 and 10 will make life better and more productive for all. The University of Michigan has documented the differences between boys and girls as far back as the 1960's. For us to expect to teach all at the same rate is both cruel and futile. Children are not machines.
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3-18-2010 @ 5:00AM
Mamanui said...Well said!
3-18-2010 @ 9:10AM
L. B. Windley said...Education across the US is set up to serve the compliant young lady not the active young man. It ignores the gender differences in learning and educational needs of boys. Activity, grounding learning, realistic life example, and hands on learning are the hallmarks of male learning, exampled in many academic studies. Still, the overall system fails to teach students to read adequately or be prepared for post-secondary learning. Sixty percent of today’s students require remediation after H.S. graduation in order to do credit work at a college or university level. So, the report here can be considered a tempest in a teapot as we look at the rot in the entire educational process. The President’s current efforts toward a Unified U.S. Curriculum is a good start, if we don’t water it down so that everyone is artifically “successful”.
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