Mothers struggle against gender gap in schools

Submitted by anthony on Thu, 2011-06-09 14:17

Article here. Excerpt:

'Tammy Mobley's son and daughter both attend college. But while Mobley is equally proud of both children, the Ross resident acknowledges that getting into college was much more difficult for her son than for her daughter.

That's not because her son is any less intelligent or hard-working than her daughter, said Mobley, the co-chairwoman of the Marin Moms of Boys Initiative. She believes his difficulties arose because modern methods of education favor students who can sit still, stay on task and keep track of many assignments at the same time.

In other words, she says, education favors girls.

"I noticed, when my daughter was in the eighth grade and my son was in the sixth, that they were having completely different experiences at school," Mobley said. "Girls have a desire to please. They have no trouble asking for help. And to be successful in school these days, you need to be organized. All of that came easily to my daughter, but was not as natural for either of my sons."

Mobley and the other members of her group say they've been inspired to act in part by the efforts of the Boys Initiative, a new national campaign to address a perceived gender gap in academic achievement and social adjustment. The project has been spearheaded by Mill Valley resident Warren Farrell, author of seven books on men's and women's issues and chairman of the Commission to Create a White House Council on Boys to Men.'

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My mom was one of the biggest lobbyists in my state questioning the use of standardized tests and the impact on boys, and she basically lobbys for all educational issues involving boys. I wouldn't be surprised if this women is on her contact list.

Here is what this article says about standardized tests:

> "One reason for the change, he [Warren Farrell] said, is that a nationwide movement toward school accountability is forcing teachers to spend the majority of their class time covering material that will be assessed on a standardized test. That time pressure leads to lectures, an emphasis on note-taking and practice tests — and the elimination of activities like art, recess and shop classes"

Up until recently (and after many parent complaints) my state had 2nd graders testing for several hours a day for up to 5 days straight. Those that did not finish in time had to test through recess.

When students received low test scores (mostly boys) it was decided that they needed to brush up on their reading skills. Guess where the elementary schools found the time to do this? Yep, recess!! All kids that needed extra reading time had to do so during what would have been their recess time.

And just like the article states, shop class and other classes enjoyed by high school guys (ie automotive) have disappeared since the rise of testing ("what is tested is what is taught..." - I always say)

All this testing is part of the "No Child Left Behind Act". The testing companies also lobby heavily to keep testing and assessments as a major part of schooling (they also want to expand testing to occupational professions). They even talked former President Bush into testing all preschoolers. This went on for a few years until it was finally determined that preschoolers don't test well (duh). Thankfully most preschools in the USA are private. It was the nationally funded "Head Start" programs that were forced by government order to test their preschoolers all across the nation.

Free education is not really "free".

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Submitted by Kris on Fri, 2011-06-10 08:22