'Why boys fail' is subject of Oct. 26 program

Article here. Excerpt:

'Concord — Why are men enrolling in and graduating from colleges at lower rates than females? Why are boys falling behind in school? Richard Whitmire, a former editorial writer and a veteran education reporter, has done extensive research on these questions, concluding that the world has become more verbal, but boys haven’t. Author of a new book, “Why Boys Fail,” Whitmire will speak at the Fenn School on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.

The biggest culprit in boys falling behind, Whitmire says, isn’t video games, pop culture, or female-dominated schools. Rather, it is that boys are usually thrust into a bewildering new school environment that demands high-level reading and writing skills before boys are capable of handling them.

In “Why Boys Fail,” Whitmire examines the sources and repercussions of the problem, and provides inspiring case studies of schools where realistic approaches of preparing students, both boys and girls, are being used with success. Educators have called “Why Boys Fail” a “thoughtful and positive call to action” and say that Whitmire has “unearthed clues that will help us better serve male learners in particular and all students in general.”'