The Gender Gap in Reading Achievement

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The Gender Gap in Reading Achievement

• Regina Tarpley Merriman
• August 2, 2007
• EDCI 6300 Dr. Beth Christian

2
Envisioning the Gender

• Its a chilly, rainy day with a wind that rattles
  the windows. The reader settles deeper into the
  cushions of the sofa, smiling with satisfaction.
  What a perfect day to read. I really cant wait
  to tell my friend about this book.

• Scenario 1 Male or Female?

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Envisioning the Gender

• Its a typical day at school. I have been asked
  to sit still, speak fluently, color between the
  lines, use neat handwriting, work cooperatively,
  be neat and organized, learn from a verbal rather
  than an experimental approach, and demonstrate
  learning through a standardized-testing format.

• Scenario 2 Male or Female?

4
Envisioning the Gender

• Scenario 1

• Scenario 2

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Introduction

• Because reading is the foundation for all future
  learning, it is the most important skill children
  must master. However, educational expectations
  and classroom climates are placing boys at risk.
  The gender achievement is notable when examining
  educational statistics, especially reading and
  math scores. Data collected from every state
  indicates that the achievement scores for boys in
  these two areas are lower than the scores for
  girls. The challenge of todays educator is to
  close this gender gap and ensure that all
  students, males and females, become proficient
  readers.

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Overview

• This presentation will examine reading
  achievement scores. After establishing the
  existence of a gender gap, the biological and
  cognitive factors influencing a childs reading
  ability will be discussed. Then, our focus will
  turn to the emotional factors contributing to the
  males declining achievement and to instructional
  strategies educators can use to close this
  achievement gap.

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The Condition of Education 2007NAEP Scores of
Reading Achievement
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NAEP Average Scale Scores
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Analyzing the Data

• 39 of 4th graders are proficient or advanced.
• 34 of 8th graders are proficient or advanced.
• 40 of 12th graders are proficient or advanced.
• This leaves roughly 60 of all students at the
  basic or below basic level.
• While the scores vary little, there is a slight
  drop during the middle school years.
• The average scale score of boys is lower than
  girls
• 5 points in 4th grade, 10 points in 8th
  grade, and 13 points in 12th grade.
• (The Condition of Education, 2007 Center for
  Education Statistics)

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Data Observations

• The typical boys reading achievement scores fall
  1 ½ years lower than that of the typical girl.
• This data includes all boys, not just those
  living in poverty or those of a minority race.
• Girls are outperforming boys in every ethnic and
  socioeconomic group.
• This achievement gap is not restricted to just
  the United States.
• Similar findings New Zealand, England, Wales,
  Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

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Biological and Cognitive Factors

• Girls talk from an earlier age.
• Girls speak 30 more words daily.
• Girls are more proficient in their language
  development.
• The left hemisphere of the brain develops in
  girls before doing so in boys.
• The left hemisphere is responsible for auditory
  process and verbal expression.
• Upon entering kindergarten, the right side of a
  boys brain is more developed.
• The right hemisphere is responsible for
  visual-spatial and visual-motor activities.
• Different approaches to reading instruction
  benefits the different genders.

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The Emotional FactorTime, Interest, and Belief

• Boys spend less time than girls reading.
• Boys value reading less than girls.
• Results of 2001 survey conducted by the Young
  Adult Literacy Association
• 39 of boys said reading was boring.
• 29.8 of boys said they were to busy to
  read.
• Banduras Theory of Self-efficacy
• An individuals perception of their reading
  ability will influence their opinions about
  reading and the amount of time and effort they
  will invest in the process.
• A childs reading achievement is directly
  correlated to their perception of their
  competence.

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The Emotional FactorThe Selected Curriculum

• Selected curriculum favors female interest
• Boys prefer historical nonfiction, science
  fiction, books and periodicals about hobbies or
  sports, newspaper articles, comic books,
  instructional manuals, and biographies of
  military heroes.
• Both boys and girls enjoy reading stories in
  which they can relate to the characters.
• Popular stories feature characters representing a
  variety of different ethnicities and backgrounds.
• Neither boys or girls are interested in
  issue-based books.

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Instructional Strategies

• Boys have shorter attention spans and require
  more physical movement.
• Boys learn spatially and need more emotional
  assurance.
• Boys learn best when there is a focus on graphic
  and electronic forms of literature.
• Strategies that utilize an active or dramatic
  engagement with the text or an analogy to real
  life are productive with the male student body.
• Boys need clear, structured instruction, short
  bursts of intensive work, specific goals, praise,
  hands-on learning, and the use of humor.

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Instructional Strategy Read Alouds

• Introduces boys to the pleasure of reading
• Rotate selections to represent a variety of
  genres
• Offers basic skill building
• Literature circles for developing comprehension
  and analytical thinking skills
• Performance of readers theatre
• Increases boys confidence in their reading
  ability

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Conclusion

• Research data supports the existence of a gender
  gap in reading achievement. Biological,
  cognitive, and emotional factors influence when
  and how boys learn to read. An action plan
  including the development of appropriate
  instructional strategies can help to reduce this
  achievement gap. After boys have been taught to
  read, they must be taught to be readers. This
  goal can be accomplished through the joint
  efforts of classroom teachers, parents, and
  support from community resources.

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Websites

• The Florida Center of Reading Research,
  www.fcrr.org, is a site jointly administered at
  Florida State University by the Learning Systems
  Institute and the College of Arts and Science.
  Its mission is to conduct research in the area of
  reading instruction and assessment. Teachers,
  coaches, administrators, parents, and researchers
  will find useful information on this site.
• Two items are of interest when examining the
  gender gap in reading achievement.
• Under New (4th item) Dr. Joseph Torgesen
  Webcast Overview of Academic Literacy
  Instruction for Adolescents.
• Under New (10th item) 2-3 Student Center
  Activities contains interactive games designed to
  engage students during reading intervention
  lessons. Games for K-1 are also available.

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Website

• Reading Rockets, http//www.readingrockets.org,
  is a site designed for educators and parents.
  Educators will find techniques for teaching
  reading and strategies to use in helping the
  struggling reader. Families will find
  step-to-step-guides on how to raise a reader.
• Items of interest when exploring the gender gap
  in reading achievement.
• In the right column, search box type Video Clips
• In the search box at the top erase Video Clips
  and
• type reading in the brain
• View the first clip. This clip is sponsored by
  the U.S. Department of Education Office of
  Special Education and is hosted by Henry Winkler,
  who understands personally the struggles children
  with dyslexia face. It explores how brain
  scientists are working to solve the puzzle of
  reading achievement.

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Website

• The National Center for Education Statistics,
  http//nces.ed.gov/pubsearch, produced The
  Condition of Education 2007 report. It summarizes
  important developments and trends in education
  using the latest available data. Forty-eight of
  the most significant national measures of
  educational success are included. Student effort
  and educational progress is one of the five main
  areas tabulated. This site is designed for
  educators.
• In the Publication Product Search box type
• The Condition of Education 2007
• Click Top Report Pub Number NCES 2007064

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Web Site

• The National Literacy Trust, www.literacytrust.org
  .uk, is committed to building a literate nation
  in the United Kingdom. Research reports and
  reviews dealing with gender and literacy are
  among the valuable materials found on this site.
  These reviews include ways to motivate and engage
  boys in reading, ways to raise boys reading
  achievement, a review of gender variations in
  childrens language use, and many other such
  topics.
• Arrive at the site In the left column click
  research stats.
• Click Gender Literacy

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Website

• Dr. Rosalind Flynn, www.rosalindflynn.com, is an
  educational drama consultant working in
  collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for
  the Performing Arts. Her work focuses on using
  drama as a learning method, and she is the author
  of two books on the educational uses of drama-A
  Dramatic Approach to Reading Comprehension and
  Dramatizing the Content With Curriculum-Based
  Readers Theatre, Grades 6-12. On her website,
  educators will find a discussion of readers
  theatre and samples of curriculum based readers
  theatre scripts.

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Print Resources

• McFall, J. (2004). Boys and books. Reading Today,
  22 (1), 20-21.
• While designed for teachers, the material is
  presented in a readable manner and contains
  valuable information for parents. The article
  discusses statistics indicating that young male
  readers are not achieving at the same rate and
  level as their female cohorts. Reasons for this
  gap in achievement are given and solutions to the
  problem are proposed.
• Gunzelmann, B. Connell, J. (2006). The new
  gender gap Social, psychological,
  neurobiological, and educational perspectives.
  Educational Horizons, 84(2), 94-101.
• Educational Horizons is the official publication
  of Pi Lambia Theta and is a journal designed for
  professional educators. The Winter 2006 issue
  was dedicated to understanding the existing
  gender gap in educational achievement.