The numbers are chilling: Boys account for 70 percent of all D鈥檚 and F鈥檚 and 80 percent of classroom discipline problems. And every male student, Gurian writes, is 鈥渁t risk of being taught ... in a system that ... may not know how to fix either him or itself.鈥�
Once branded as an 鈥渋ncorrigible鈥� youth, Gurian and coauthor Stevens argue that sedentary school settings have long conflicted with the way boys learn. But now, 鈥渟tandardized testing and other rigors鈥� have sparked a crisis rivaling past worries about girls鈥� performance in math and science.
The authors argue that new research backs up long-intuited beliefs鈥攖hat boys need activity and sensory experiences to learn and that their minds enter 鈥渞est states鈥� that prompt fidgeting. The suggestions are often familiar: making lessons more visual, emphasizing PE and the arts, and allowing more freedom of movement. But a strong case is also made for single-sex classes, a tactic Gurian鈥檚 eponymous institute has helped some schools implement.
Whatever the approach, the authors say something needs to change. 鈥淓very time a teacher wonders why the boys are 鈥榯rouble in the classroom,鈥� 鈥� they write, 鈥渉e or she is asking a moral question鈥濃�攚hether we should be changing boys, or the places in which they are taught.
鈥擬ark Toner
