What's to blame for differing test scores between the sexes?

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2008-03-03 19:26

Story here. Excerpt:

"Educational consultant Joe Manthey, who led a workshop through the Napa County Office of Education about educating male students, cites the almost nonexistent gender gap for home-schooled students in English as proof that schools are part of the problem.

The reason that home-schooled boys score as well as their female counterparts in English is twofold, said Manthey. First, they are more likely to be given a choice in their reading material. Second, “they’re less likely to fall through the cracks,” he said.

Manthey’s research shows that boys are more inclined to read nonfiction than fiction, and are more likely to relate to subjects related to science, sports and stories that revolve around male characters.

“Then you see boys required to read books like ‘The Joy Luck Club,’” he said, referring to the book by Amy Tan about immigrant mothers and daughters.

It’s no wonder, said Manthey, that boys tune out in English class."

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Comments

I can't tell from the article, whether the gender of the home-schooler was also taken into account, i.e. the mother or the father. Maybe if it's often at least partly the father, that's another reason (for the lack of disparity between home-schooled boys and girls). Or maybe just the fact that even if it's solely the mother doing the educating, that's not as bad as being trapped in a matriachal situation, with dozens of women teachers, advisers, counselors etc. surrounding the boy.

-ax

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Submitted by axolotl on Wed, 2008-03-05 07:05