Why boys get worse grades than girls
The study’s authors analyzed data from more than 5,800 students from kindergarten through fifth grade and found that boys across all racial groups and in all major subject areas received lower grades than their test scores would have predicted.
The scholars attributed this “misalignment” to differences in “noncognitive skills”: attentiveness, persistence, eagerness to learn, the ability to sit still and work independently. As most parents know, girls tend to develop these skills earlier and more naturally than boys.
No previous study, to my knowledge, has demonstrated that the well-known gender gap in school grades begins so early and is almost entirely attributable to differences in behavior. The researchers found that teachers rated boys as less proficient even when the boys did just as well as the girls on tests of reading, math and science. (The teachers did not know the test scores in advance.) If the teachers had not accounted for classroom behavior, the boys’ grades, like the girls’, would have matched their test scores.
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Boys, far more than girls, need fathers to discipline them after they come home with a note from the teacher saying Johnny is a disruptive hellion, and/or a report card that looks like a Sesame Street lesson on the letters D and F.
When you have a culture where fathers are an endangered species and discipline is just about as rare, guess what happens.
MelonCollie on February 4, 2013 at 11:49 AM
Wow, good comment.
I really think we train boys not men any more. Responsibility is pre-socialist America.
Oil Can on February 4, 2013 at 11:51 AM
Boys can’t cry their way to victory and raise their C to an A-. Too many teachers are A-OK with letting boys fall through the cracks.
Christien on February 4, 2013 at 11:55 AM
Did they break the figures out based on the gender of the teacher giving the grades?
Rocks on February 4, 2013 at 11:56 AM
Well, I guess this is one reason that obama is so obsessed with transgenderizing the boys of America.
Pork-Chop on February 4, 2013 at 11:58 AM
Mean girls don’t stop being mean, just because they begin teaching.
Christien on February 4, 2013 at 12:00 PM
This country is suffering from the fruits of the 60′s generation that has ruined the lives of so many creating a single-mother culture with zero shame. I say this as a middle-aged man.
I can barely tolerate any other parents out there because they are so horrible. Society is so scared to call these worthless parents out that my kids actually suffer for being the ones who behave and don’t constantly cause trouble.
ClassicCon on February 4, 2013 at 12:01 PM
Because boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails, they have a great deal more difficulty concentrating.
Blake on February 4, 2013 at 12:05 PM
Because schools are designed to educate girls, not boys.
besser tot als rot on February 4, 2013 at 12:08 PM
All of the things that girls like to do are encouraged. All of the things that boys like to do are against the rules. Is it any wonder that boys who emerge from these systems end up as the metrosexuals so prevalent today?
besser tot als rot on February 4, 2013 at 12:11 PM
Blame our judicial system for much of that. I know people love to beat up on “dead beat” dads and the like, but the judicial system is rigged in women’s favor. If more men were able to gain custody in divorce cases, would that fix the problem?
I think not.
It takes a complete family. Mom and dad. And that falls to societal decay. Our culture is warped.
Hopefully in the next 100 years or so a cultural renaissance will occur and save the family unit. Because right now our culture is all about me, me, me and me.
ButterflyDragon on February 4, 2013 at 12:13 PM
So is it a bug or a feature if young boys are less tractable and don’t conform to Prussian standards of obedience? It’s only bad if they’re typecast as delinquents into young adulthood , and if no one ever bothers to demand anything else of them.
Seth Halpern on February 4, 2013 at 12:15 PM
I got an idea. Boys used to get better grades when they were treated equally to girls in school. Then the “enlightenment” in learning came along to raise up the girls in school. Suddenly boys were attacked relentlessly by their teachers. As this assault continued, their grades and desire to be in class, where they were systematically bullied by the feminism crowd, decreased.
astonerii on February 4, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Oh, PLEASE.
“Sit down, shut your face and listen to the learned man/woman in front of you, child” is not ‘Prussian standards’.
MelonCollie on February 4, 2013 at 12:17 PM
They had to do a study to figure that out? I find very few parents who discipline their kids like the old days, they all want to be best friends with their kids. Teachers have a hard time of it too, they get the “not my little angel” response when they tell parents their child is a Hell Raiser. Having a Father at home does help considerably though.
major dad on February 4, 2013 at 12:21 PM
MelonCollie-
I believe he is referring to the fact that the framers of our modern public education system reputedly were inspired by, and deliberately mimicking the form and intent of the Prussian educational system which was designed to children into perfectly obedient cogs, soldiers who neither disobeyed orders, nor flinched at being shot, factory workers who thought nothing working 12 hour shifts pulling a lever and so forth, while the children of elites where sent to schools that taught them to be educated human beings to lead these human cattle.
SpikeRHSC on February 4, 2013 at 12:26 PM
@Melon Collie: Well, I write as an ex-Prussian who scarcely ever gave any teacher, learned or otherwise, any trouble at all. And this article is not implying that boys are fatally disruptive, but that teachers are prejudiced against them.
Seth Halpern on February 4, 2013 at 12:28 PM
Because boys do most of our thinking with a part of the body that does not contain the brain?
UltimateBob on February 4, 2013 at 12:33 PM
doesn’t this pretty much answer the question? girls naturally mature faster than boys, that’s just how the body works. it’s something i learned a long time ago, yet i think people tend to forget this. so, if you judged girls’ behavior against boys who are a little older, you’d probably get similar results.
i would say “lack of fathers” is also part of the problem though, too.
just… wow, you actually think the main reason girls succeed in things is because we just cried our way to success? what a silly thing to say… good job stereotyping there.
Sachiko on February 4, 2013 at 12:40 PM
‘Cause they’re Boys.
Simple
As a Father of both boyS and girlS.
No study needed, any parent can tell you that boys are hellions at those ages (K-5) and girls not so much. There are exceptions to every rule though.
D-fusit on February 4, 2013 at 12:43 PM
I have a 20 month old. School is looming in our future. Any suggestions to help alleviate this? Watching my nieces/nephews in school, I know what the article says is true. What can mom and dad do to help?
cptacek on February 4, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Btw I had a seventh grade math teacher who used to reward us with milk shakes at the local soda fountain if we scored 100 on a test … but also screamed, threw chairs and even kicked disobedient students in the backside. So, yes, that was a little bit Prussian.
Seth Halpern on February 4, 2013 at 1:11 PM
Eighth grade!
Seth Halpern on February 4, 2013 at 1:13 PM
Most teachers at those levels are women.
We pulled our oldest out of public school when it became apparent he wasn’t thriving. You know, it’s amazing what a little boy can learn if you let him move around while you read to him. Mine used to act out sword fights while I read him stories about King Arthur and William Wallace and Narnia and well, pretty much any story with a sword in it.
The kid whom teachers regarded as a loveable goofball is now 17 and taking classes at a community college. This fall he leaves for a prestigious private college where he has an academic scholarship that covers his tuition. He plans to major in chemistry.
CJ on February 4, 2013 at 1:16 PM
Not so fast there, champ. Boys get short shrift from teachers and administrators ever damned day of the week. So slow your roll before you run your mouth again and make yourself look like an even bigger fool.
Christien on February 4, 2013 at 1:20 PM
I bet that more males teaching boys at those grades will result in grades more in line with test scores for the boys. There are many, many teachers (mostly women, shocka!) who buy into the asinine two-wrongs-make-a-right notion that discriminating against boys is social justice for past discrimination against girls.
Christien on February 4, 2013 at 1:29 PM
Pfft. FAIL! You totally forgot “myself” and “I”!
Not at the ages being talked about here, Bob.
One option is to homeschool. More than anything else, it allows you to tailor your child’s schooling. This applies not just to choice of curriculum, but to things like increased frequency of activity time (if a boy, especially), using “teachable moments” to add in cross-discipline work (like discussing science if they ask a question related to a reading in their literature work), and working schooling around appointments and such (if you’re going to the doctor that day, set up all your curriculum that day around that idea).
One other thing you can do – especially with a boy – is to make time to do “manly” stuff with them, and teach them using those activities. Have them help you work on the car and teach them about science and engineering. Have them help you in the yard or garden and teach them about biology. Have a “man’s night” washing dishes and teach about physics (bubbles) and biology (germs). You can talk about teflon, or why starches turn to rock if you leave them on the counter, or how the disposal works. The key is to understand that a child (but ESPECIALLY a boy!) learns best while doing, and doing something with dad (or mom, too
) is the *best* stuff to do.
GWB on February 4, 2013 at 1:30 PM
Here’s what you do. Send a copy of his college offer letter to every single one of his former teachers that made a negative comment or told you he had “issues”. Tell them you just wanted to let them know that they were wrong, and maybe they should consider how many young lives they permanently retarded with their ideology and malpractice.
IOW, the BIG F U.
BobMbx on February 4, 2013 at 1:33 PM
Never, ever, ever, ever, ever… did I mention ever?… send them to a public school. Ever. Public education in the United States is an absolutely cesspool. Sure, you can find an isolated example of a teacher or a classroom that is better than average. But all are still following the government-mandated curriculum of feeding everything from Godless self-indulgence to climate change. Anyone who says “well, my particular public school is not like that” is deluding themselves. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend parents with kids in public school, but it’s the truth.
Either home school them or send them to private school. I know some people say they can’t afford private school, but I guarantee you that if you go to your local Catholic or other church-affiliated school and speak to the priest or minister, 99% of the time they will find a way to work with you. They really do view education as a part of their ministry, and while they must charge tuition to keep the doors open, most will also not let finances stand in the way of a child getting an education.
I don’t know how much more forceful I can make this… Don’t send them to public school. Please.
Shump on February 4, 2013 at 2:05 PM
Alas, we are not in the position to home school.
He will be able to do lots of manly stuff with dad on the farm, (he already knows how to sic the dog on a cow getting too uppity for his tastes, and loves the four wheeler)
The key probably will be to incorporate learning into the doing, instead of just doing.
cptacek on February 4, 2013 at 2:07 PM
Closest private school is an hour from home. Probably not an option.
cptacek on February 4, 2013 at 2:10 PM
I’m curious as to what makes you think you aren’t in a position to homeschool?
That’s the key. And, it can be fun. Besides, he’s gonna start on the “Why?” stage pretty soon, anyway.
GWB on February 4, 2013 at 2:57 PM
I work full time, my husband farms, and we are barely scraping by. The farm hasn’t made money one year since we started. I make good money, but the farm sucks it all up.
cptacek on February 4, 2013 at 3:34 PM
I understand. I won’t say it wouldn’t be tough. But, it is more accessible than many folks think – at least partly because there are more variations on it than most folks know. There’s probably a homeschooling organization in your state that could help you with your possible options.
One big point, though. If you take up the “teaching moments” concept, you will *already* be homeschooling. You just won’t be taking your child out of the system to do so. Your son will already have a huge advantage. Then, when the moment is right, and the system is not serving your needs, you will be ready to jump in.
Invest in lots of books (loads of free ones on Project Gutenberg and the Adelaide University Electronic Texts Collection). Not just classic fiction, but plenty of non-fiction (yeah, I know, it’s more expensive). Even a lame (or old) encyclopedia will give a good starting point. An internet connection will help, too (when filtered). Be willing to look things up when he asks a question – and bring him along. In short, feed his brain.
Also, never forget to remind him that you have a set of morals that might be contrary to what the system desires. Let him know that you won’t let them fuzz up his conscience without a fight, and be prepared to give good answers for your beliefs. And, of course, PRAY!
GWB on February 4, 2013 at 4:19 PM