Better teaching for Johnny
By Bert Gottschalk / Bulletin guest columnist
Published: April 09. 2006 6:00AM PST

According to the United States Department of Education boys between the ages of 5-12 are 60 percent more likely than girls to have repeated at least one grade. Boys are 33 percent more likely to drop out of high school. Boys between the ages of 5-14 are twice as likely to commit suicide. Are young men not as intelligent? Are boys just "crazy" and "unmotivated"? Maybe we've just unknowingly designed schools, behavioral expectations, and communities that are "boy unfriendly." Let's look at some specific examples.
Academics: According to the U.S. Department of Education, fourth-grade girls score 12 percent higher on writing tests than boys. In eighth-grade they score 21 percent higher, and by high school that number has jumped to 24 percent. High school girls are much more likely to take Advanced Placement classes, and 22 percent more high school girls are planning to go to college than boys. We've come to the point where test scores and rigid curriculum guidelines somehow demonstrate "success." Young men aren't stupid. Maybe we're just assessing their intelligence in the wrong way.
Emotional: In elementary school, boys are twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with "learning disabilities"; they are five times more likely to be medicated, and according to a University of Michigan study the number of boys who said they "don't like school" rose 71 percent from 1980 to 2001. Boys are biologically, developmentally and psychologically different from girls. Student-teacher ratios have risen, physical education and sports programs have been cut, and "hands-on learning" opportunities such as vocational training have been slashed.
Social: In the Bend-La Pine School District approximately 90 percent of all discipline referrals to administrators are boys. Boys are more impulsive than girls, and they tend to be more physical. Physical games at recess are now a thing of the past. Young men lack real life role models that help them develop discipline, a work ethic and accountability. One-half of all African-American boys don't even finish high school. Most of us would be amazed to know that 40 percent of boys in America are raised without their biological dads.
Communities need to be part of the solution. Schools don't do a good enough job of actively seeking mentors, resources and role models for our most vulnerable students. There are literally hundreds of boys in Central Oregon that have no stable support system. They have no structure or sense of purpose in their lives. They haven't established accountability, self-confidence, public speaking skills, or the ability to understand a work ethic. Schools need to open their lines of communication and aggressively recruit senior citizens, business people, college students, and fathers to be more involved in the lives of our young people.
Science can also help us better understand the differences between boys and girls, and schools have to be flexible and intelligent enough to design environments where both genders can be successful. The brain goes through some fairly drastic chemical changes as children turn into adults. We need to recognize these changes and adapt our instructional techniques and resources. There are "magnet" or "charter" schools across the United States that are based solely on gender or a specific learning style. There are very successful alternative programs out there designed specifically for boys that have "behavior problems" in public schools. These educational environments are not "military schools." They are places of learning specifically set up for young men who need something different than just "the neighborhood school."
John Smith is lucky to grow up in the United States. We are the greatest country on this planet. With all of our vast resources, creativity and knowledge it's unthinkable that we can't do a better job of educating and raising our young men. Boys aren't born as losers, but too many of them turn out that way. Until we collectively tackle this issue together in a positive way we are dooming kids like John Smith to failure. Have fun supporting him in prison or on the social welfare ticket later on in his life.
Bert Gottschalk, of Bend, is a fifth- grade teacher at High Lakes Elementary.