Are Boys Making the Grade? Gender Gaps in Achievement and Attainment [View all]

http://renniecenter.issuelab.org/research/listing/are_boys_making_the_grade_gender_gaps_in_achievement_and_attainment

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left:0; border:3px solid #000066; color:#33000; background:#F1F2F7; width:550px;"]Boys drop out of high school at significantly higher rates than girls. And they are almost twice as likely to be assigned to a special education classroom.

The study presented individual snapshots of the ten largest urban areas in Massachusetts, but determined that gender gaps prevail in schools statewide.

Because prior research has made clear that gaps also exist between racial sub-groups of students, the study examined the intersection of race and gender in high school enrollment patterns. This analysis clarified that, between ninth and twelfth grades, the enrollment of Black and Hispanic boys declines at a much steeper rate than their White male, Asian male or female peers.

Recommendations
The policy brief concluded with a series of recommendations designed to ensure that boys and girls both receive equitable educational opportunities. They included:
Permit experimentation with single sex education on a small scale, such as in after school enrichment programs;
Incorporate information about gender differences in cognitive development into teacher training; and
Pay particular attention to Black and Hispanic boys in mentoring, dropout prevention and MCAS remediation efforts.

Single gender classrooms have been demonstrated to improve education outcomes for both boys and girls.