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I was playing catch with my four year old grandson, Jake, until the magnetic attraction of a mud puddle drew the ball to the puddle. The unexplainable attraction of the puddle quickly drew Jake. Knowing grandma would not approve of sending Jake home with mud on his coat I used all my grandfatherly powers of persuasion, but was unable to offset the magnetism of the puddle. This puddle fascination remains with males for years. There is a large mud puddle that I can observe from my classroom. Between classes, high school males cannot resist the allure of that puddle. On days when the ice is thin it becomes even more attractive to see who can slide the furthest before getting his shoes soaked. Unfortunately, the design of schools ignores the puddle mentality of male students.
The new state graduation requirements, despite how well intended, miss the mark and will aggravate rather than solve educational dilemmas especially for our male students. Four credits of English and math, three of science and social studies, two of foreign language and one of physical education and the arts will prepare young people for the traditional four year liberal arts education, but at whose expense? Across this nation the gender of college students is rapidly shifting. Newsweek January 30, 2006 reports, that 44 percent of college undergraduates today are male compared to 58 percent thirty years ago. In October, the Grand Rapids Press reported Grand Valley State University’s male enrollment is declining. In the fall semester only 38 percent of GVSU students were male. The proposed state graduation requirements ignore this shift and if enacted will compound problems in today’s high schools. As an educator, who has spent thirty eight years in public schools, the following statistics are surprising only in the enormity of the discrepancy between male and female students. Using Wayland Union High School the following statistics dramatically point to the educational gender division facing schools today. Academically, comparing the GPA’s of the academic top 10 percent of our seniors, juniors and sophomores, 72 percent are female. Conversely, the percent is reversed when comparing the lowest academically achieving 10 percent of their respective class GPA’s, 72 percent are male. Fifty-seven percent of students enrolled in Wayland Advanced Placement courses are female. WUHS offers programs to meet the unique learning needs of students. These programs are designed for individuals for whom the traditional classroom approach to learning does not meet their needs. In these three programs, boys out number girls by a two to one margin. To the classroom teacher it is no surprise that a disproportionate number of discipline situations involve males. Figures for WUHS for the 2004-05 school year indicate that 62 percent of discipline situations involved males. If you look strictly at classroom discipline incidents, males are sent to the office for disciplinary action in even greater numbers. Leadership, as measured by participation in student council also reflects the gender split. Females by a three to one ratio participate as student council officers and representatives. Furthermore, Newsweek reports that 40% of boys come from homes in which the biological father is not present. Even during their formative years, children are not likely to encounter an adult male in the classroom. In the two early-elementary Wayland schools, only 3 of the 57 full time teachers are male! Male teachers in Wayland High are also in the minority. The current high school curriculum does not align with the needs of many of our male students. The new proposed curriculum “muddies the water” and fails a high percentage of our students. Have we forgotten those students, especially the males, who plan to become auto mechanics, electricians, carpenters, plumbers or pursue the military as a career? These careers cannot be outsourced, and the need for qualified candidates in these endeavors, will not disappear. These occupations provide well paying, life time occupations for thousands of Michigan students. To ignore this reality cheats our most precious resource, our students. With the educational divide between the sexes increasing, educational leaders must find innovative solutions that encompass the “puddle mentality”, or our young males will continue to face frustration and failure in our nation’s schools. Jon Jensen is a teacher at Wayland Union High School. Allegan County Public Schools - “Excelling In Education” The Education Viewpoint is a monthly column written in rotation by the Allegan County Public Schools Superintendents. This article is not the opinion of all the superintendents or of this website. |
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