Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind

by Richard Whitmire

Why Boys Fail is a sweeping survey of one of the most misunderstood and sometimes totally ignored problems of our day - the precipitous slide in boys' academic achievement, which cuts across racial and economic divides and affects boys around the English-speaking world. Richard Whitmire draws on extensive journalistic skill and experience to pick apart the prevailing theories of what is causing boys to fail - feminized classrooms, toxic boy cultures, mind-numbing video games - and shows how each contributes to the problem but fails to wholly explain it.
Instead, the author reverses course from the usual finger-pointing to uncover what is actually working in schools to bring boys up to speed, and draws his conclusions from there. The answer is simple yet the world has become increasingly verbal, but boys have not. From heightened kindergarten reading expectations to language-dense math problems, many boys lack the reading and writing skills needed to keep pace. Their lagging literacy skills snowball through the school years and ultimately derail ambitions and prospects.
Why Boys Fail is not simply a depressing assessment of the fate of our nation's boys; it also offers suggestions for what works. Packed with inspiring case studies of schools that have successfully implemented programs for improving literacy - such as intensive phonics instruction and ongoing reading instruction in the middle years - this extensively researched, persuasive book is a must-read for parents and educators alike.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Parenting, Teaching

239 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

RICHARD WHITMIRE (Arlington, VA) is a former editorial writer for USA Today and President of the National Educational Writers Association. A highly recognized and respected education reporter, his commentaries have been published in The New Republic, U.S. News, Politico, Washington Monthly, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Education Week. He also appeared on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition to discuss boy troubles. HIs newest book is The Bee Eater: Michelle Rhee Takes on the Nation's Worst School District.

Reviews

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I liked:

The author's premise that the world has become more verbal; boys haven't.

Identifying the reason boys struggle academically compared to girls is due to weakness in reading and writing.

Debunking myths that boys' poor performance in school is due to feminism. This is a global phenomenon even in areas (like Saudi Arabia) that have no feminist movements.

A focus on personal mentorship, phonics instruction, and boy-friendly literature to get boys interested in reading and writing.

The proof (as shown in KIPP schools) that any gains boys make will not come at the expense of girls.

Sociological and demographic projections about how less-educated men will affect the economy and family life.

Things I didn't like:

The author's constant appeals to the U.S. Department of Education for a study on the issue of why boys are behind academically. I can understand why the author wants the Dept. of Ed. involved: it sets policy and precedent for the way millions of U.S. kids are instructed.

However, WHY WAIT? I didn't read a single sentence about the responsibility parents have to teach their kids and be involved in their education. Parents must not abdicate the role of teacher completely to the state. And I am not letting single parents off the hook. Don't wait for the government to come up with a solution. BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.

Overall a decent book that shed some light on how a parent can help sons adapt to an increasingly verbal world.

[Gwyneth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite a disappointing book. The author does one thing, and only one thing, well - he lays out the statistics showing that boys' school performance is falling behind girls. But rather than delve in to any of the compelling evidence why that might be so, he relies on anecdotes, personal opinion, and some quite misguided prejudices about the education system overall, leaving you with no better understanding of the issues and what to do about them than when you started the book.

Also, there were some serious failings in the quality of the writing overall, and times when I found myself thinking "this guy just isn't very smart, is he?" Perhaps he's a victim of the falling standards in boys' education himself? In fact I started bookmarking pages where there were serious logical errors or conclusions that weren't well thought-through, and ended up with quite a dog-eared copy. For example, on one page he notes that preschool students today are expected to know things that were actually part of the 1st grade curriculum not that long ago, and then, just a few pages later, bemoans the fact that performance has dropped in these areas (not to mention that he contradicts himself on whether student performance has actually risen or fallen numerous times throughout the book). Not once does he make the connection that if we've raised the bar by as much as two years, isn't it perfectly logical that more children would fall below that bar?

Now, maybe I'm a snob, but about halfway through the book I realized why this book, perhaps, seemed so hackneyed to me, especially in comparison with Crazy U, another book on the US education system that I read recently. While the author of Crazy U was a long-time journalist with the Washington Post, the author of this book was responsible for the editorial page...of USA Today. Just like that newspaper, this book was guilty of slinging a lot of statistics around but not really understanding what they meant (or how to interpret them - for example, in one section we're given an onslaught of figures designed to show how many are falling behind women...but never gives the rates for women, so there's no way to compare). And also typical of mainstream reporting today, this book took at face-value the ideological statements about falling education standards, teacher quality, and education administration without ever once thinking to question whether any of those assumptions might not be true.

Here's a typical statement from the book: "The combination of low teacher expectations and vague state curriculum guides that don't define reading expectations has left thousands of students unable to read complex texts." Really? On what evidence do you base that statement? After all, non is presented here.

I think this is a very interesting topic that could have been dealt with much more thoughtfully and intelligently. I was deeply disappointed in this book - I expect much better from contemporary non-fiction than this.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most frightening books that I have ever read...

If you wait to read this book until your son is having difficulty in school, it will be too late.

Intuitively, I knew it was wrong when I saw the reading material being brought home by preschoolers, but I wasn't sure why. I just knew that they were not ready to develop reading skills.

I knew the damage that can occur in the classroom when students are forced to learn something for which their brains are not yet developed. I also have seen the long term effects on a student's self-esteem when he fails continually at a subject because he got "behind". I tutored one student in Grade 8 with a mark in the teens in Math. It did not take long to find out that he did not know his 3 times tables... he had been sick when this material was covered, and he never made up what he had missed, As a result, most of his math answers were wrong; he did not know why. He thought he had no ability in Math.

We went back to the basics, times tables from Grade 3, and his mark rose to the mid-70's in a few weeks.

I did not know that MRI's today show that areas of the brain used in reading in a 5-year old boy mirror the same areas of brain in a 3 1/2 year old girl, That means that, by the time a boy gets to Grade 1, he is at least 1 1/2 years behind the girls in his class. Sadly, teaching in a class (unless it is done with independent individualized learning) focuses on the middle of the class. This means that most boys will be left behind.

The author suggests that many discipline problems of boys (more boys expelled from preschool!) are related to their frustration in being unable to do what is required of them in literary skills.

Like the boy I tutored in Math, these boys can develop a lifelong dislike for reading, a strong lowering of self-esteem (thinking that they are not as good as the girls) and unfortunately a possible permanent shutdown of that area of the brain responsible for reading and writing.

Studies seem to indicate that by between Grade 4 and 6, the ability of boys to acquire literary skills will have caught up to girls, but by that time, they have failed so consistently and become so far behind that they will never catch up.

If a boy is 5 months behind in Grade 1, then there is only a 1 in 5 chance of him ever catching up. But he is likely farther behind than 5 months since at the age of 5, he is 1 1/2 years behind the girls.

The author does an excellent job of showing how this failure to read and write costs boys career and university opportunities because they do not have the verbal skills to succeed.

I disagree with the author in one major area. He talks about successful programs which correct the problem AFTER the boy has had years of frustration and failure.

I think that the solution is to prevent the problem from developing ... he cannot learn to read until he is developmentally able. The solution is to slow down the reading part of the curriculum until he is ready for it. The author talks about the success of separate gender classrooms which are legal in the US. IF possible, there should be a separate curriculum for boys and girls with the boys learning Math and Science earlier than girls, when their brains are ready for it, and then learning literary skills later, also when their brains are developmentally ready. Likewise, the girls, whose brains develop in literary skills before Math and Science skills, should have their curriculum reversed. By Grade 6, the curricula should match and gender separate classes would no longer be necessary.

This could be easily accomplished in home schooling, but there are other educational and social advantages and disadvantages to consider in home schooling.

The author states that schools felt that the solution to low literary skills was to introduce reading earlier. This explains the emphasis in preschool on literary and arithmetic skills.

But you can see that the brains of preschoolers, especially boys, are not ready at this age for learning to read.

So the parents face great difficulty with their boy who becomes increasingly frustrated because each day he gets farther behind in every subject... because all subjects depend on reading and writing skills. Then he becomes bored, angry and a discipline problem.

The change in curriculum has not benefited anyone... it is like toilet training. If someone is ready to read at age 5, it will take a few weeks to teach the basics. If you begin at age 3, it will take 2 years.

Reading is an individual skill and each student learns at his own pace.

The most successful reading programs that I have ever used have been the SRA labs in which each student progresses at his own rate through material that increases in difficulty. I have also used reading materials that are age-appropriate (and gender-appropriate) but geared to individual reading levels. The author so correctly emphasizes the lack of reading materials relevant to boys, especially now that there is a zero tolerance policy to any form of violence, even in books, so that even a basic adventure story is banned. Boys just do not like the materials that they are given to read. I have taught individualized reading programs to entire classes where everyone loved to read because the material was relevant, exciting and at their reading level.

We had reading texts with the same cover, same page numbers, same pictures, but different reading difficulties. These books were mixed in the class so that you did not have separate groups of fast, moderate and slow readers. Nobody except the teacher knew at which level a student was reading. Each question was designed so that it could be answered from any of the different level texts. So students learned the basics of literature as well as reading.

If books like this were used until Grade 6, there would probably be no need for classes to be separated by gender.

If I were faced with this very discouraging situation that seems to have no solution except for home schooling, I would prepare myself for an intensive 6 years until the boys caught up to the girls. During these years, I would take the responsibility of teaching my son reading at his current level and daily encouraging him to believe in himself. I would help him to understand that a curriculum unsuited to his level has nothing to do with him. I would help him realize that it is not his fault that he has been given reading materials above his level, but promise him that we will get through this until he is ready for the material given to him.

Of course, by the time that the general public realizes the damage that has been done, it will be too late to correct it for a generation of boys.

But that does not need to happen to your boys.

I am thankful that the author has done such compelling research with such a heart for boys (when he has only two daughters, so he is not dealing with the problem at a personal level.)

As always, information is power. If you, as a parent, know about this situation, you can make this problem much less serious for your boy.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In recent years, more and more people have been highlighting the need to focus on the unique needs of our boy readers and students. Test scores, grades, graduation rates, and college enrollments are all indicating a disparity between the sexes, and the ladies are definitely coming out ahead. Whitmire, an education writer for USA Today sets his scopes on trying to understand why the disparity is coming about and attempts to suggest ways that American schools can work to overcome the challenges our boys face.

His basic theory is that shifts in the way we teach is really moving us away from addressing the needs of our boys in the classroom. For example Whole Learning Theory has moved away from the use of phonics and breaking down knowledge into smaller sets of information to be consumed, which is a preference for the way the male mind works, to full immersion and allowing the students to learn through constant exposure. He also highlights how we are starting to teach reading and base skills at younger and younger ages and are now brushing up against the developmental limits of the male brain, which tends to stagger behind females over the course of childhood and adolescent.

As a result, boys tend to not want to study and read because they are not doing well and are frustrated for various reasons. This means they are often falling further behind as time goes by. The lag in statistics really causes a major difference starting in the middle school range and continues on from there. As a result, males are less prepared for successful college experiences, which are quickly becoming a requirement to compete in today's work environments.

In effect, we are handicapping our boys in the area of communication (both in reading and writing), which is becoming more important in the modern technological world. In fact, boys are disproportionately identified as having conditions, such as spectrum disorders and ADD/ADHD, that require a higher level of special education intervention.

What Whitmire seems most concerned about is the fact that America seems to be unwilling and unable to even recognize that there is a gender disparity, preferring to identify the causes of differences to issues like race, socioeconomic levels, and language barriers. Countries like Australia and Great Britain have both completed studies on the gender disparity that have allowed for approaches to compensate to be both developed and supported through funding and shared planning across districts. Meanwhile, America's Department of Education has done nothing.

Whitmire has done a wonderful job of using examples from schools in America and in Australia to both highlight the problems boys are confronted with and to show examples of schools that are attempting different programs to improve the educational experience of both boys and girls.

I really found this to be an interesting read. Those familiar with the writing of Michael Sullivan (Connecting Boys with Books: What Libraries Can Do) will find some of the theories and suggestions to be a little familiar. In a way, this almost seems to take the concerns to the next level because it highlights how the literacy limitations affect both overall academic success and lifetime career opportunities. This just seems like a must read for any educator, librarian, or similar person who works with young people.

[Stacy Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you know I'm sort of obsessed with reading books on how or how not to raise my three boys. I'll start on the girl stuff a little later. While interesting in outlining the reasons for girls outstripping boys in grades, rate of high school graduation, college acceptance, college graduation and academic honors; there were no real solutions given. The main point was that Britain and Australia have both recognized the problem and are taking steps to find out what is going on and how to fix the problem. America, on the other hand, is mired in the problem of this not being "politically correct." We have worked so long to help girls excel and nobody wants to lose that ground. The author makes a good point that most feminists will still end up getting married and most of them will have children, roughly half of them boys. So this will be their problem too. I was looking for things that I could do at home to offset these educational weaknesses. My opinion is that we as mothers stay very involved and aware and don't hesitate in advocating for your children.

I know that during Max's sixth and seventh grade I found myself in the principal's office at least once a month for various dopey things he did in class. To be honest, they were pretty ridiculous but part of me was horrified that Max wasn't more embarassed to be getting in trouble like that. As a student, I never wanted to get in trouble. Steve would have to talk me off the ledge and kept telling me to not worry about it, these were normal stupid boy things and that he would grow out of it. He was right, and by eigth grade, things balanced out and he is excelling in athletics and academics. I just wish I had known those things before I lived with an ulcer for two years. You hear me Krisette? Hank is darling and funny. And just a boy.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who witnesses at work on a regular basis the failings of the education system in preparing students for college level work, I have found the research on K-12 education fascinating. There have been numerous studies on the lack of rigor and depth in American high schools, especially when compared to countries who are at the top of the lists in key subjects such as science, math, and reading. This book addresses this topic, but from an unusual perspective — the gender gap. There has been a recent surge in research regarding the seeming prolonged adolescence, particularly in young men: much of it cites the rise of women in education and the workforce, permissive parenting, lack of employment opportunities, the prevalence of escapist entertainment. And although some of these are briefly addressed by the author, his self-proclaimed summary statement is “The world has gotten more verbal; boys haven’t” (28).

One of the things I really appreciate about this book is that Whitmire does not stop at reporting the data on why boys are failing, but goes further and finds schools, programs, and administrators who have made changes for improvement. He talks about mentoring programs, tutoring, curriculum reviews, teaching styles — all practical, real-life applications that educators, teachers, and administrators can consider for improving the odds for the boys in their schools, as well as the challenges and obstacles that they faced while implementing these changes. This is an excellent book for those who are interested in both education and gender roles, and it tackles issues which many people have spent too long avoiding.

[Legintis · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book certainly had some interesting points I couldn't shake the feeling that Whitmire's real concern was that white middle class boys are failing. That underlying theme, or my own internal perception of that theme, prevented me from being able to take a lot from this book. The school system fails a lot of children and only recognizing this when it impacts your own neighbourhood reeks of entitlement. Secondly, even though he seemed to deny it at times I think Whitmire fits into the "blame the teacher" camp - and that just pisses me off. Teachers can only do so much when budgets are being slashed, special needs students aren't getting the support they need, curriculum and policies are being formulated by people who haven't stepped foot into a public school classroom since their final day of grade 12 (if they even went to public school) and they are being slandered in the media. However, despite these criticisms there were a few nuggets that I was able to pull from this book and if you're involved in education I think it's worth a quick skim at least.

[Sagar Jethani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short version: they can't read.

[Eva Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confirms what I suspected...

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of reasons, but few suggestions to improve

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting premise, not the most compelling execution (and outdated, obviously... would be interested to read a similar book on this topic from this decade and see how things fare now).

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whitmire presents the case that although girls' issues in education get all the headlines, boys are the ones who are really falling behind in all areas, including traditionally "male" subjects like math and science. The reason is primarily that curriculum, especially after 8th grade, has become much more verbal in an effort to prepare children for a rigorous college education. However, boys, who naturally develop verbal skills later than girls, have been passed from grade to grade without really mastering phonics and comprehension. Thus, more boys have low test scores, are uninterested in school, fail to do and turn in homework, drop out from high school, choose not to enroll in college, and do not graduate from college if they do enroll. Whitmire also heavily emphasizes the need for a national study into this problem.

I'm with Whitmire most of the way. As a former English teacher of a regular senior class (as opposed to AP or college-prep), I saw far more boys in my class than girls. I think one of my classes was about 2:1. And what was on the reading list? Pride and Prejudice. Guess how well that went over. I finally got my head straight and picked Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies after that, and my boys were much more into the books and into my class. So part of the problem lies in what books schools are choosing for their students to read. There are lots of great girl books out there, but quality books boys will read are much harder to find. Typically, boys want adventure and action, not women talking about their prospective husbands. And while I did have a few boys get into P&P when they caught on that it was just like high school, most tuned out during those weeks. During Lord of the Flies, however, I had my students in "tribes" that earned points. This was a much more boy-friendly approach because of my boys' competitive nature. Besides, the book had plenty of violence and adventure (I had to explain to my girls that the boys on the island ran around naked because, if given the choice, boys would simply rather be naked than clothed. The girls were aghast.) Still, my boys had a harder time writing good papers, turning in work, and taking tests.

Clearly, things need to change in education. As parents, we can make sure our boys understand phonics. This seems to be pretty crucial for boys in particular. We can also volunteer in our kids' classrooms to help other students. Within the education establishment, there needs to be a concerted effort to target struggling boys and not just pass them if they don't know how to read. Beyond that, Whitmire discusses single-sex classrooms, charter schools, changes in community college, and especially a government-funded national study into the question of why boys fail so much more than girls. He says that Australia and England have already done studies and are much farther ahead on how to deal with their similar boy problems. I say why not just use their data? If most developed countries are experiencing the same kinds of gender gaps as in the US, shouldn't our results be similar? Schools in these English-speaking countries can't be that different, can they?

Whitmire gives careful consideration to underlying causes and solutions, though at times he strays into less interesting and less helpful discussions, particularly near the end of the book. It's given me a lot to think about as a boy's mom, and I hope that I can help my son read well and succeed both in school and the other aspects of his life. I wrote down several of the books and authors Whitmire cites and hope to check them out soon and see how they can add to my understanding of how to teach my son. It will be interesting to see what overlap I find with the next book I read, Thomas Sowell's Inside American Education.

[arjuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and worthwhile read, marred by "folksy" style of what feels like a writer trying to dumb down the problem for the lay reader. Sensible premise, though, and one which as an ECE teacher I find very compelling: lifetime educational achievement is crucially affected by inappropriate instructional strategies in emergent and early literacy. This is compounded by outdated and misplaced educator assumptions as to the level of routine support required by individuals who do not achieve to the best of their ability, largely driven by received cultural assumptions about "boy capability". Pushing academic assessment methodology down through school years exacerbates the problem, especially for boys, because it provides no room for individual support according to exhibited learning style; and, crucially, the transition between different modes of schooling and their emphases cause bottlenecks which it is easier for educators to quietly ignore than try and remedy. Not a lot to disagree with there. And: go phonics.

Overall: some interesting data; limited international comparison; not enough information about the work of other people interested in this field; suffers from "folksy" style which devotes space to individual stories rather than convincing argument; undermines credibility by bringing in the "marriageability" argument in re college (presumably to please certain groups of readers who feel that is a more important social goal than helping all individuals achieve to their potential on principle - then again, it is American in focus so only to be expected maybe).

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whitmire does a good job of setting up his main argument: that boys are being left behind in literacy. He positions the situation in a way that doesn't take away from girls being behind in math and science, and it doesn't seek to assert that boys should get interventions at the expense of girls. Instead, he offers solutions that could benefit both genders. He calls for a massive research project documenting the literacy practices, rates, and trends with boys in the United States. A wise recommendation, I think. Like Jon Scieszka, he explains the importance of turning boys into early readers. As the mother to a young boy, I can say that an early love for reading is simple to nurture. It is all about book choice and a loving environment. Start a reading routine early. He calls for volunteer tutoring programs that offer scripted curriculums. I'm unsure that I agree with this type of program, but I'd like to see someone research this possibility. Improvements in middle school and high school reading instruction should be made, Whitmire suggests. This includes offering more options that are relevant to adolescent boys. This trend should continue in the community college. He then makes some recommendations that I don't agree with: he contends that we should cut breaks for young men seeking admission to college and offer additional support for those already in college. Boys are capable of succeeding. If we can offer better instruction that teaches the way they learn, then they should be held to the same grade and testing standards that girls are. A good read, and one that can certainly inform anyone who is in a position to help boys become more literate.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important work that points out what those involved in the education establishment have known for some time: namely that boys are not doing well in school right now. I have long wondered if this was true when I was in school and I just didn't notice it, but the book seems to marshall effective statistics that indeed, boys are doing worse and worse. The book postulates that the main reason for this is that boys are failing to gain the verbal skills necessary for succeeding in todays world. Notably, many boys get turned off of reading in the fourth or fifth grade and then are functionally illiterate for the rest of their lives. Not good in a world which requires basic literacy for nearly every profession, even those that didn't use to. The solution seemed pretty clear to me from reading the book. 1) Make sure that reading is taught in a variety of different methods to a variety of different learners. Everyone learns reading differently and many need more explicit instruction. 2) Don't allow any student to slip behind. 3) Don't allow this to be cast as a boys vs. girls issue. 4) Provide more opportunities for boys to read books that appeal to them in school (when I was growing up I remember whole sections of the children's room in the library were books about DOING things, now I notice that most young adult and middle reader books appear to be about problems and feelings).

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very interesting, and I believe it makes some very cogent points, especially about the "pushing down" of the curriculum--what kids are expected to learn in kindergarten now is what they were expected to learn in first or even second grade decades ago. I have seen this, and wondered at the thinking behind it. I do wonder about one thing, though--if we can trace back the beginnings of the curricular push-down to the 1989 governors' conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, and see this as a major factor in causing boys to fall behind, what is the reason for "the boy problem" in Great Britain and Australia? Whitmire often cites those countries' efforts to find solutions as well as citing their problems when discounting others' reasoning as to the scope of the problem and possible solutions. I want to know--so what led to those countries' low literacy rates for boys?
In spite of this caveat, I find this a wonderfully analytical and practical book. I would also recommend checking out Jon Scieszka's Guys Read website (www.guysread.com), which is mentioned in the book, although I was aware of it already.
Sorry to be cynical, but in spite of these efforts, I don't think anything substantial will be done until a whole generation of males have been affected.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Now I want to move to Australia where that have figured this out a long time ago and immediatly did something about the problem istead of letting it go on for years like here in the U.S.

My son will have to deal with what we get through the WV school systems but at least this book has given me some ideas in order to help him get to where he needs to be. Will do almost anything to get him up to the 6th grade reading level this year. We don't live near any of the KIPP schools and they don't have the programs in WV like they do in other states. Don't get me wrong they are trying but he lost at least 3 years because teachers wanted him to be diagnosed with ADD. Like a pill is the cure all for him not wanting to read. Got him tested for ADD 3 times. All 3 times the diagnosis was the same. NO HE DOESN'T HAVE ADD. Even put him on a low-dose meds to see if it would help. It made him hyper which it wouldn't have done if he truly had ADD. He just isn't interested in reading or in school. Need to find the right person who cares enough to want to show him and me how to get him interested in reading.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should be read by anyone interested in the topic of boy education especially by teachers.

I just wish the author spent more time talking about solutions than establishing the problem. He spends about 3/4 of the book saying "Okay this is the problem" and about 25% saying "Alright here are some solutions." I also hoped he would give more specific examples of these solutions instead of paraphrasing.

I didn't like the author's attitude towards teachers. He either refers to them as pawns in a game with broken rules or as apathetic cretins who sit around and just allow boys to fail. At other times he blames teachers indirectly with statements like "We need to show our boys that someone cares about them." implying public school teachers don't care about their male students.

Despite this, I agree that our government needs to take a more proactive approach to this issue. A good start would be actually acknowledging that boys failing is a problem.

These are just my two cents. Otherwise a useful book wether you're a parent, ra teacher or even a politician.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent discussion of male failure in today's society in general and in the education system specifically. Though there is a chapter about possible causes of this failure, the book, as a whole, falls short on delivering its title "Why Boys Fail." The best synopsis comes from the author himself when he says on the final page that society has become more verbal while boys have not; this is the crux of his thesis, which seems mismatched to the book's title.

It was an enjoyable read overall despite some of his advocacy. The author is in favor in male-based affirmative action which is quite a position to advocate at the end of the book since affirmative action itself deserves an extended analysis. Likewise, the author looks for all sorts of government solutions to this "problem" - which, in my opinion, are somewhat detached ideologically and in the book itself. The potential causes are presented earlier in the book, while the proposed solutions finish out the book - and the two are mildly related.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whitmire's book explores the growing achievement gap between boys and girls in schools and the current and future implications of this gap. His primary premise is that the world is becoming increasingly verbal but boys' literacy skills are not keeping pace with these changes. For example, good verbal skills - reading and writing - are required to succeed in college, and college is necessary to get a job that twenty years ago could be obtained with just a high school diploma. He also points out that blue-collar jobs require greater literacy now, too; someone fixing a Prius must be able to read a complicated manual. Whitmire cites many, many statistics to prove the achievement gap is real (and that differences between boys and girls cannot be explained fully by other factors, such as race or class). I think his diagnosis and analysis of the problem are convincing; however, his book is significantly weaker when proposing solutions to the problems. Perhaps there aren't any yet.

[Hosea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whitmire showed the factual data to describe that there is a academic achievement gap between boys and girls in United States. It is mainly because of the change in the world. The world became more vocal. The big problem is that the world has changed, but not the education system, which resulted in failing boys. College graduation ratio between boys and girls is 4:6. This will cause many problems including high youth unemployment rate (in my opinion). The author suggests several possible solutions, but more urgently he asks for the governmental to step in and acknowledge the issue as UK and Australia did. As a father of two boys I became aware of the challenges my boys will face under the current educational system. Maybe I will push them to read a little bit more and help them to have a clear goal for the future.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book with a lot of studies discussed in detail. It looks at every angle imaginable regarding boys and 'modern' school - not just while they're there, but also what happens as they get older and head to college. Or NOT. The reason I give this only 3 stars is because while it covers a lot of the problems, it doesn't get very detailed in solutions. It does have a chapter devoted to that. But, most of the items listed there are NOT things that I can do to help my own children. It's more like a list of what EVERYONE needs to do; everyone from the parents to the schools to the local governments to the federal government. Therefore, I don't feel 'armed' with enough ideas to try in my quest to help my two boys do the best they can and ENJOY school. *sigh*

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

His premise is simple, but his book is really wordy. I really thought the whole thing could have been simplified down to a magazine article.

Basically, boys are struggling with reading, but the educational system isn't acknowledging it. He thinks the govt is failing to study the problem and take action. People are confused about the role of feminism in the problem, if there is a role. And various schools are trying various solutions to the problem, but no one is studying the data, or perhaps just parsing it by gender, to see which solutions work best.

I think his book needs a companion book, written for patents of males, about what they can do at home to solve the problem.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting ideas presented about why boys are not reading, why they have trouble reading and why school is failing them. Intriguing ideas include the fact that teachers are mostly women and teach toward girl's abilities these days, i.e. girls learn to read more easily and are able to sit and listen more quietly and boys need to move, are generally noisier and are not always ready to read when the girls are. It relates some solutions that schools in the US and elsewhere are using to deal with this phenomenon. I didn't always agree with everything the author presented but nonetheless it is fascinating stuff.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eh, I don't think I can make the points I was trying to make in my first shot at this review without sounding conceited. I just really agree with this book. It's not very clever or stylish, but the information is good and it feels true. I think this could be a very important book for educators and parents to read. There is this idea that no matter how much boys get knocked around and abused, they'll come back and be okay. Not so, it appears. If school isn't treating your boy fairly, and it's not working for his learning and enthusiasm, then you need to intervene on his behalf, because the school system does not seem to be able to help young struggling boys.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and full of good data and research. The premise is quite compelling. As a mom to a son and a teacher of a special ed room that ALWAYS has 3x as many boys as girls, I'd like to feel better about how we as a society are training up our boys for the next generation. As the mom to a girl, I wholly agree that it is about making sure that smart girls have potential partners that can meet them at their level. Well worth reading!

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting book that looks into the problem of underachieving boys. as a teacher I do agree with many of the issues the author talks about and their future ramifications. I wish the author would have given more practical advice on how to fix this problem but that was not really the purpose of this book which was to call the us dept of ed to seriously investigate the issue and lists ramifications if it is not solved

[Megan Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the mother of two boys, I was very interested in what Whitmire had to say. Boys are failing compared to girls at all socioeconomic levels, in America and around the world. Whitmire's thesis is that the increased emphasis on early literacy had frustrated a generation of boys, and the educational establishment has not yet focused on the problem, though he does highlight some schools that have had success.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

After hearing from educators, authors, sociologists, neurologists, and yes, a librarian or two, it is interesting to get a reporter's take on boys and education. Unabashadly journalistic, this book focuses on gathering lots of evidence, making few conclusions, and a heavy dose of debunking. Oh yeah, and bashing the federal government for not doing enough, just as you would expect from a reporter. Definately worth the read.

[Doris Herrmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book teachers should read. This Whitmire looks at our educational system and discovers something many teachers and parents already know. Our educational systems are no longer boy-friendly. In a time where we look at "differentiation" as the key to helping our kids find their way to success, we need to make sure we don't leave our boys behind.