2006年VOA标准英语-Survey Finds Young Boys Failing in Schools

By Jeff Swicord
Washington, DC
13 April 2006
 
watch Boys Education report
 
  
  
They cannot stay organized. They finish their homework but then lose it. And they often have trouble focusing in class. In schools across the U.S. young boys are falling behind, while young girls are thriving. Once again, learning differences between the sexes have become a big issue for educators in American schools. 

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In classrooms across the U.S., there is a new trend that worries educators.  In every category and demographic group, boys are falling behind in school.

Anita Doyle is a learning specialist who works with kids who are having academic troubles at the private Episcopal High School outside Washington D.C.

 
Anita Doyle 
  
"In this year's freshman¹ class, I met about five girls and about 30 boys but I have continued to meet with the boys and I don't see any of the girls.  All of the girls have kind of figured out how to do things and they are on their own.  Between myself and another learning specialist we meet with about 20 other boys," she says.

Episcopal is an elite² private high school that admits students based on standardized³ test scores and grades.  Students are generally of similar academic ability.

Yet Anita Doyle still sees dramatic differences in performance between the sexes. "A 14-year-old girl is academically more mature than a 14-year-old boy.  This makes a huge difference, especially in the high school years.  Because, what you are asking of high schoolers is to keep track of five or six subjects, plan ahead for their long term projects, decide what is important to study, to review for tests, to prioritize.  And many boys are not ready to do that task."

Recent scientific research suggests that many of these differences may be hard-wired in the brain.  Boys mature a year or more later than girls, and are twice as likely to have a learning disability.  They tend to fidget and lose focus easily.  Brain studies suggest they process language and emotions less efficiently⁴ than girls.  Boys in the U.S. bring home 70 percent of poor or failing grades and receive the bulk of school suspensions. 

Twenty years ago, it was the girls who had fallen behind, and efforts to improve their academic performance included hiring more female teachers, who were sensitive to girls' needs. 

 
Alvaro Devicente
  
That has had an impact on boys, says Alvaro Devicente, the Headmaster of The Heights School, a private all-boys school in the Washington area. "I think that in many cases boys are falling behind because there has been a process over the last 20 years, a process of education becoming more feminine," he said.  "And I mean that in sort of a realistic factual sense.  Because if you look at the statistics there is a majority of women teachers and a majority of girls in the school that everything gets tailored to the girls and the young women."

Armed with the latest statistics, many parents are abandoning the idea of gender⁵ equality in schools, acknowledging the differences between the sexes, and turning to same-sex education.  The faculty⁶ at The Heights School is all male and caters⁷ to what Devicente says are the special learning needs of young boys.

"There have been studies, very interesting studies about how boys hear differently than girls," Devicente notes.  "For a boy to really hear the tone, the volume has to be louder.  So that if the teacher is speaking at a volume that is comfortable for girls, the boy is going to get distracted because it is like elevator music almost.  You start looking around and you are surely going to find a distraction⁸ if you are 12-years-old in a classroom."

At the Heights school, boys are given four breaks a day.  They are allowed to play tackle football, throw snowballs and vent⁹ all of their pent-up energy.  Mr. Devicente says that improves their concentration in class.

"I think that one thing that may happen in other schools is that the way that they try to control boys is by thwarting¹⁰ their passion," he says.  "Keeping a lid on them and getting them to do the right thing.  And that is very dangerous because you can't ask a boy to fake it.  You have to redirect his passion, and they are going to be passionate¹¹ and they should be passionate."

Ms. Doyle, says it is a character flaw. "You have got to understand that the way boys behave is not a character flaw.  It is who they are," she says.  "So you have to start with that premise¹².  You have to start at a situation where they can see what they are capable of. "

Most educators agree that a wholesale¹³ change of teaching practices in schools runs the risk of doing more harm than good.  But many believe accepting that differences do exist between the sexes is a starting point for realizing the full potential of every student. 

1 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

4 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

8 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

9 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

10 thwarting   

阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program. 共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。
• There were too many men resisting his authority thwarting him. 下边对他这个长官心怀不服的，故意作对的，可多着哩。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

13 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。