Wilson, Roger T.

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ColleaguesVolume 2 | Issue 1 Article 104-8-2011Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why AreGirls Outperforming Boys?Roger Wilson Ph.D.Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleaguesThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colleagues by an authorizedadministrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gvsu.edu.Recommended CitationWilson, Roger Ph.D. (2007) "Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why Are Girls Outperforming Boys?," Colleagues: Vol. 2: Iss. 1,Article 10.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol2/iss1/10COLLEAGUES12Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why Are GirlsOutperformingBoys?Over the past couple of decades girlshave surpassed boys in high schoolgraduation rates, enrollment in APclasses, selection as valedictorians, and appli-cation to and graduation from higher educa-tion institutions, and for the first time ever,this new century witnessed more femaleapplicants than males being accepted to pro-fessional programs such as law. Why? Are ourexpectations for boys in need of reconsidera-tion, especially in a changing economy wherethe ability to work in a factory as a careeralternative and still earn a meaningful wage isquickly diminishing? Are there other factors atplay?The history of gender access to educationhas clearly favored males. Since before theearly colonial days in America, the educationof females was seen by community elders andparents as being largely unnecessary or lessnecessary than their male counterparts. Thetraditional role of females was seen asfocusing upon homemaking and child rearing,and in that capacity, the formal education offemales was deemed to be of lessconsequence. Clearly, skills to support theirtraditional roles were important and thosewere often acquired from the more seniorwomen in both the extended family and thecommunity. Basic literacy and numeracy wereimportant only insomuch that as theindividuals responsible for raising the family’soffspring, and reading and writing wereimportant for transmitting “the word” fromthe scriptures.If we briefly examine historical educationalopportunities for females in America, theearly view of their lack of need to be edu-cated was premised, in part, upon the beliefthat early colonial leaders were going to beeither ministers of faith or lawyers, neither ofwhich women could become. Consequently, itwas not until 1920 that women were given thefranchise in the US, having been denied, inpart, because of the view that they were inca-pable of fathoming such erudite concepts aspolitics. The fact that the unschooled and illit-erate male could vote seemed to have escapedthe great thinkers of the day—being proper-tied was apparently equated with sufficientintellect [1].Women have struggled historically tobecome educated and to be afforded the sameeducational opportunities as their malecounterparts. One only has to think of thework of Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870),Prudence Crandall (1803-1889) and MaryMcLeod Bethune (1875-1955) to name butthree. With the advent of the common schoolmovement in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s,the precursor to today’s public schools,opportunities for females to become educatedwere advanced, both as students in thoseschools, but also as a result of the fact that themovement’s spread across the countrywitnessed a shortage of teachers, a void thatwas to be filled primarily by educated, middleclass women.The evolving nature of our current societyfrom a traditional manufacturing-basedeconomy to one requiring greater scientificand mathematical knowledge and skills as itshifts from industrial to a post-industrial statereflects the fact that many of the high payingmanufacturing jobs can now be done asskillfully by workers in third world countries.The problem, notwithstanding the historicaldenial of educational opportunity for femalesand their ongoing struggles to gain theirrightful place in the corporate world, is that atthis moment, females might actually be betterFE AT U R E ST O RYby Dr. Roger WilsonColleagues SP07_7:Colleagues SP07  4/6/07  10:27 AM  Page 121Wilson: Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why Are Girls OutperformingProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2007positioned educationally than many of ourmales to take advantage of the economy’sshift. Our boys have long been able to fairpoorly in their academic achievement andstill find substantial employment in theindustrial sector where wages were high,even if the work was less interesting andintellectually engaging. Over the decades,males have become habituated into thebelief that, irrespective of theirperformance in school, there would bework for them somewhere and work thatwould generate a reasonable middle classlifestyle for them. But those opportunitiesare disappearing quickly in America aswitnessed by the loss of manufacturingjobs in Michigan since 2001. Failure to gaina high school diploma is now seriouslyproblematic. Gaining some level of highereducation, be it an associate’s or bachelor’sdegree, will become the new threshold orbenchmark, if it has not already become so. It might be argued that females havebecome the unintended beneficiaries ofa societal practice that sets behavioralexpectations for them in school, but haspersisted in letting “boys be boys.” The netresult, so goes the argument, is thatfemales have, through our societal expecta-tions, developed a behavioral skill set thatis more conducive to the present schoolexperience and its study and work habits.Thus, as we examine the success of youryoung women in our educational institu-tions from kindergarten through highereducation, as a gender they continuallyoutperform their male counterparts. Thereare greater numbers and percentages ofthem than males succeeding in all the areasthat are important for our society to moveforward. Studies have found that highschool males on the whole put greaterstock in being a good athlete than planningto attend college or getting good grades[2]. Notwithstanding the importance ofextra-curriculum sports in the lives of ourstudents, how wrong-headed is such think-ing? As parents, and particularly as fathers,are we not perhaps doing our sons a dis-service by favoring attitudes that fostersports’ participation and success at theexpense of academic performance?Winning a state championship as a 17 yearold is a memorable one-time experience.Having a solid education that affords sig-nificant occupational opportunity andfinancial reward lasts a life-time. [1] for an interesting history of women’ssuffrage in America, see that topic in‘wikipedia.org’[2] Monitoring the Future Survey: 1998.Institute for Social Research, University ofMichiganCOLLEAGUES 13KENT COUNTY LITERACYCOACH’S NETWORKImagine 90 teachers in one room, excitedlytalking about one topic. They gesture withtheir hands, their faces are animated and theroom buzzes with voices filled with passion andconviction. This is a picture of the LiteracyCoaches Network (LCN) of the KentIntermediate School District.  These teachers arerepresentatives from grades Kindergartenthrough High School of public, charter, andChristian schools in Kent County. Their respon-sibilities range from full-time literacy coaches tofull-time teachers who have been asked tospearhead the focus on literacy in their build-ings.  Some have special education degrees, oth-ers majored in reading instruction. Still othersare experienced in specific content areas haveyears of classroom teaching experience. Manyare elementary teachers, but one third have abackground in secondary education. All areteacher leaders in this literacy effort.Literacy is one of the five initiatives adopted,supported and encouraged by the KentIntermediate Superintendents’ Association(KISA). “KISA chose literacy as an initiativebecause of its impact across all content areas.Strong literacy skills lead to success in theclassroom and increased student achievement!”said Kevin Konarska, Kent ISD Superintendent(GVSU, 1987). “We wanted to raise the level ofimportance of literacy as well as help unify ourschool districts around this important work.Working collaboratively gives it great strength.Kent ISD’s role is to bring staff together toengage in conversation around ‘best practices’and create an ongoing dialogue that will sustainthis work through all districts.”  The Kent Curriculum Council was charged tocarry out this initiative. Char Firlik (GVSU,1972) was hired to develop an action plan forliteracy. She worked with county leaders todefine literacy in an “Action Model for LiteracyAchievement.”The framework of this model elaborates 6facets of literacy-building:1. Use of common standards, includingcurriculum, standards, vocabulary andinstructional strategies.2. Comprehensive instructional models, such asthe gradual release or scaffold model.3. Literacy instruction for content.4. Use of common assessments and data,including classroom, grade level, building,and district data as well as state testing data.5. Research-based intervention strategies, suchas differentiation and learning styles,response to intervention models and targetedinstruction.6. Collaborative professional development usingprofessional experts, book studies, andcoaching models.The LCN is a targeted a group of teacherleaders. The network gives them a place tocome together to learn about what is happeningacross the nation, state, and in all of our districtsregarding literacy strategies and coachingtechniques, sharing their successes and theirneeds. After attending this coaches meetingonce a month, the teachers go back to theirbuildings energized to work further with theirstaffs. Nationally and globally-recognizedpresenters, such as Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey,and Miriam Trehearne have come to the countyto spread their knowledge and successfulexperiences with literacy-building.  Professionaldevelopment opportunities in Learning Styles(Dunn and Dunn Model), Differentiation, andTactile/Kinesthetic strategies (Foldables) havebeen offered to all educators.The LCN Leadership team, comprised ofChar Firlik, Mary Stearns, Patronella Koster(GVSU, 1985), Susan Laninga (GVSU, 1976),Maureen Grey, Kailone Dunsmore, and JuliaReynolds, thoughtfully plan activities for eachnetwork meeting. Their goal is to giveparticipants plenty of food for thought aboutliteracy, as well as time to converse, debate andreflect. The leadership models the strategiesthey are teaching and give time for guidedpractice. The LCN has studied such books asThe Literacy Coach’s Survival Guide, by CathyToll,  Literacy Leadership: Six Strategies forPeoplework, by Donald A, McAndrew, andothers. Teachers discuss articles, such as “TryFeed Forward instead of Feedback,” byMarshall Goldsmith and “A Framework forShared Leadership,” by Linda Lambert.  LCN members learn about change models tohelp them facilitate change and improvement intheir buildings. They practice strategies foreffective meeting design and productiveprofessional conversations using realisticscenarios. Those with ideas that are workingwell share them with the group in roundtableformat, effectively spreading best practicesthroughout the county. Planning for next year, 2007-2008, is alreadyunderway. The group of educators whoparticipated this year have expressed interest incontinuing to learn and grow together. The lookof the second year may not be the same. It maybe centered around the coaches’ own expressedneeds and interests. Local districts have seen thevalue of their literacy coaches learning fromthose in other districts, more teachers want toparticipate in this training, and the probabilityof a second year of building teacher leaders inliteracy is emerging. And most importantly,Kent County is building a true network ofvibrant educators who will continue to supportone another in the pursuit of literacy for allstudents.  by Susan Laninga, GVSU 1976Colleagues SP07_7:Colleagues SP07  4/6/07  10:27 AM  Page 132Colleagues, Vol. 2 [2007], Iss. 1, Art. 10http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol2/iss1/10

Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why Are Girls Outperforming Boys?

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Gender, Expectations, and Education: Why Are Girls Outperforming Boys?

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