BOYS:

1
BOYS

• Raising their Achievement Levels and
• Protecting Our Future
• Presented by
• Christopher C. Clarke
• JTA Education Conference 2007
• Sunspree Resort, Montego Bay
• April 11-13
• Teaching for Success Reaching Every Learner

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Introduction

• What are little boys made of ?
• Snips and snails and puppy dog tails
• That's what little boys are made of.
• What are little girls made of?
• Sugar and spice and everything nice,
• That's what little girls are made of.
• Nursery Rhyme

3
Consider These

• Adolescent males are four times more likely than
  adolescent females to commit suicide
• Five out of six children and adolescents
  diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
  are boys
• Boys are three to four times more likely than
  girls to have a learning/reading disabilities
  placement in schools
• Boys in elementary through high schools score
  significantly lower than girls on standardized
  measures of reading achievement
• Boys are 50 more likely to be retained in a
  grade than girls
• Jamaican boys have a higher attrition rate than
  do girls. At the primary level where nine percent
  of all children repeat a grade, 63 of repeaters
  were boys

4
Boys Performance Stats

• Girls outperformed boys on every sub-test of the
  Grade One Readiness Inventory in 2004
• In the 2005 Grade Three Diagnostic Test, girls
  outperformed boys in every sub-test in Language
  Arts and Mathematics
• In the Grade Four Literacy Test (2005) the trend
  was the same. In some instances the difference
  was over 22 points.
• In 2005 the average scores for girls in the
  Jamaican Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) were
  seven percentage points higher than those for
  boys in all five subjects
• At the secondary level (Caribbean Secondary
  Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced
  Proficiency Examination) male achievement was
  generally lower than that of females in 2005.
  Girls had higher pass rates than boys in 29 of
  the 35 subjects.

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Stats contd.

• At Mona, the largest of the three campuses of the
  University of the West Indies (UWI) women
  outnumber men in enrolment almost three to one
• Females outnumber males in every faculty except
  Agriculture and Engineering

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Answers from Research

• Chevannes (2001) Learning to be a man
• Evans (2001)
• Miller (1991, 1996)
• Parry (2000)
• Clarke (2004)
• Many other small studies in Ja. and the Caribbean

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Some Findings

• Girls perceived and research confirms them as
  more conforming and better prepared for school
• Girls perform better in language related
  activities
• Language-related activities are particularly
  resisted by boys Real men do not speak English
  Real men do not like reading
• Girls benefit from higher teacher expectations,
  and preponderance of female role models

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Findings contd

• Some boys underperform to remain popular
• Differential gender socialization puts boys at
  disadvantage Boys are not as closely supervised
  at home as are girls girls are the preferred
  gender as students
• The absence of a father interested in education
• Brain research is still inconclusive although
  there is clear evidence about differences in
  physiology of the male and female brain. At any
  rate the brain is wired by environmental
  stimulation.

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Raising Achievement Levels Some things to do

• Self Examination my attitude towards boys how
  well do I know the boys in my class, school?
• Teachers need to have high expectations of all
  students boys and girls.
• If boys are constantly made to feel incompetent
  and worthless they remove themselves from the
  process and develop deviant sub-cultures
• Encourage reading and not just going through a
  particular text Select reading materials that
  portray boys and girls in positive ways

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Strategies contd.

• Select reading materials that are culturally
  appropriate showing boys from all walks of life
  as learners and achievers and connecting to the
  real lives of boys (and girls)
• Consider learning styles of boys and girls all
  students benefit from active learning Teach boys
  through their interests
• Use multiple approaches to teaching increase the
  use of high technology consider the provisions
  you make in your classroom for boys
• Encourage real men to come and read to boys or
  to whole class on a regular basis
• Consider pull out sessions for discussions in
  co-ed classes Research shows boys do better in
  all-boys discussions

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More things to do

• Use humane approaches to discipline, above all,
  be fair in applying rules. Children/students know
  injustice
• Increase boys career options introduce
  non-traditional careers and eliminate gender
  label from certain subjects
• Consider a mentoring programme for boys (and
  girls)

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At Home

• Help boys to develop a sense of responsibility
  (urban boys especially have no chores to do
  before or after school), teach them to do
  household chores and insist that it is done (and
  done well)
• Fathers, try and establish strong bonds with your
  son and show interest in his school work
• Share times with your sons doing chores, doing
  leisure activities and reading
• Help boys to select healthy role models. They
  are powerful teachers.

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In Closing

• The underachievement of boys is a real threat to
  the peace and well being of all of us. It affects
  our churches, our families, our society and
  therefore warrants our collective and urgent
  response
• THANK YOU