STUDENT ENGAGEMENT “The data from our study of boys and reading, in fact, challenge us to rethink our answers to the most fundamental questions we ask as teachers: Why do we teach? What do we teach? How do we teach?” —Dr. Michael W. Smith and Dr. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys
KEY FINDINGS
> > Scholastic’s 2016 Kid and Family Reading Report surveyed more than 2,500 U.S. children, aged 6-17, and found that only 52% of boys (versus 72% of girls) said they liked reading books over the summer, while only 27% of boys (versus 37% of girls) said they read books for fun at least five days a week. Forty-five percent of boys (versus only 36% of girls) said they often have trouble finding books they like. > > Though these numbers are based on averages—there are boys, of course, who love to read and may be reading above grade level—in general, in elementary school, girls tend to be more verbal and get off to a faster start with reading than boys. > > What’s more, some boys seem to regard reading as a “feminine activity” and may lack strong male reading models. This is a pattern that persists into adulthood, as according to a 2016 Pew Research Study, “women are more likely to read books than men.” Indeed, 32% of men (versus only 23% of women) surveyed said that they hadn’t read a single book in the past year. > > The standardized NAEP test, known as the nation’s report card, indicates that by the senior year of high school, boys have fallen nearly 20 points behind their female peers in reading (Von Drehle, 2007). > > However, new evidence suggests that when boys are told that a reading achievement test is a “game” (versus a test of their reading achievement) they actually outscore the girls (Lukits, 2016). > > Eighty percent of high-school dropouts are boys, and fewer than 45% of students enrolled in college are young men (Tyre, 2005). > > Seventy percent of children diagnosed with learning disabilities are male (Tyre, 2005). This means that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with learning disabilities.
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BOYS
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