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Inking Truth to Power
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posted June 3, 2009, from March/April 2009 issue
If You Can Read This, You’re
Probably Female
By Bill Costello
Many parents and educators do not realize that, on average, girls are better readers than boys. In every age group, boys have been scoring lower than girls on U.S. Department of Education reading tests for more than thirty years.
The longer boys are in school, the wider the reading gender gap becomes. For example, the 2004 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that the gap at age 9 is 5 points on standardized tests; at age 13 it is 10 points, and at age 17 it is 14 points.
Not only does the reading gender gap span every racial and ethnic group, but it also categorically finds boys underperforming girls regardless of income, disability, or English-speaking ability.
Research is clear: greater reading skills equates to greater success in school. Increasingly, it also equates to greater success in the workforce as blue-collar jobs move to low-wage countries. If we don’t start to help boost our boys out of their reading slump, many of them will become unemployed adults.
Personally, I have experienced the frustrating feelings that accompany a lack of reading skills. I’m currently in Japan observing the differences between how boys and girls learn in the Japanese school system. Not being able to read kanji has made it extremely difficult for me to order food, navigate with a map, and perform countless other common activities. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to sit in class and try to learn new content while struggling with reading skills.
The reading gender gap is not unique to the US; it occurs throughout the world. Some countries, like Australia, are creating government programs to help close the gap. For example, their Boys’ Education Lighthouse Schools Program helps Australian schools identify, document, and disseminate best practices in educating boys.
More is needed in the US. A good start would be for our government to fund educational researchers to study schools that have found ways to improve boys’ reading skills without disadvantaging girls.
In the meantime,
a great message to share with your children to inspire them to read
on Read Across America Day can be found in Dr. Seuss’ book, Oh, the
Places You’ll Go!, wherein he writes: “And will you succeed? Yes!
You will indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)”
Bill Costello, training director of Making Minds Matter, teaches parents and teachers the best strategies for educating boys. He can be reached at www.makingmindsmatter.com or trainer@makingmindsmatter.com.