Lost Boys: Closing the Academic Gender Gap

Boys are more likely to drop out of school, and make up only 43 percent of college students. Millions of boys are being lost along the path to academic success and career achievement in today’s knowledge economy. Teacher bias regarding behavior, rather than academic performance, penalizes boys as early as kindergarten. On average, boys receive lower behavioral assessment scores, and those scores affect teachers’ overall perceptions of boys’ intelligence and achievement.

Rather than penalize boys’ high energy – as traditional classroom methods often do – successful teachers are learning to take advantage of male liveliness, curiosity and thirst for competition. Unless educators stop to consider whether traditional methods are working for both genders, boys will continue to get the short end of the educational stick.

This powerful one-day on-site training helps teachers and administrators understand the structural, chemical and processing differences between boys’ and girls’ brains. It helps educators support boys’ developmental needs, while teaching them social /emotional competencies. Attendees will discover innovative strategies, as well as group and individual interventions, to help boys achieve their highest academic potential.

Teachers, counselors, administrators and other educators will leave with practical tools to support developmental needs and specific activities to get boys learning while reducing their risk for academic failure, dropping out and underachievement.

Learning Objectives  

• Explain how boys’ brains work including the chemistry and structure
• Identify the differences in the ways girls and boys focus
• Recognize the role of hormones, specifically testosterone and dopamine
• Demonstrate classroom strategies to support boys’ developmental needs
• Contrast the difference between natural aggression and bullying