75% of black California boys don’t meet state reading standards

The gap spans all grade levels. Boys in high school score better than those in grade school, but girls outperform them by consistent margins at every age. And a higher family income does not appear to even things out.

The gap is not unique to California. In states that administer the same standardized exam as California, girls outscore boys by similar margins. In international reading comprehension exams, girls best boys in nearly every country and at nearly every age.

The phenomenon is nevertheless worrisome because it may compound other educational disparities California has attempted to close for decades, without success.

“If boys don’t read as well as girls, and if that persists all the way through K-12, it means when you reach certain thresholds like college, it places the males at a disadvantage,” says Loveless. “The ability to read well has a lot to do with the ability to get into college and the ability to do well while you’re in college.”

What explains the poor scores? And why doesn’t the state provide more detailed data?

Certainly scores aren’t the only educational area in which black boys trail their peers. African-American boys are more likely to be suspended and drop out of school than other demographic groups, in California and elsewhere.

But the reading data is sobering. As early as fourth grade, for example, nearly 80 percent of black boys failed to meet state reading standards. Of all ethnic groups for which the state collects data, black boys trailed black girls by the widest margin.

“Part of this may be structural, in having texts that aren’t relevant to the experiences and legacy of African-American boys,” said Chris Chatmon, founding executive director of the African-American Male Achievement program at the Oakland Unified School District. “When a lot of the curriculum you have access to isn’t familiar, or doesn’t acknowledge your past or your present, you have a tendency not to be engaged with it or want to read it.”

While the state makes it relatively easy for parents to look up the test scores of African-Americans at local schools, the data is not broken down by gender. So it may be difficult to identify schools where black boys are performing well, as well as schools that are struggling.

“The state should report this data,” Ryan Smith, executive director of the education reform advocacy group Ed Trust-West, said via email. “One of the consistent things we find in our research is that schools and districts closing gaps for students of color tend to do more with data, not less.”

The data limitation is not unique to California—detail is lacking in many other states’ public-facing test results. A spokeswoman for the California Department of Education said producing more detailed data is under consideration, but “schools and districts already have the capacity to create student results by all kinds of cross-tabulations.”

Are girls inherently better readers? Isn’t that what they used to say about boys being better at math? What does the research say?

Education researchers have multiple theories about why girls routinely outperform boys on reading and writing tasks.

Loveless explains three main schools of thought. One longstanding explanation—that some hidden biological difference in development makes girls inherently better readers and writers—still has support in some quarters.

“That there is something about the male and female brains--that we’re just hardwired differently—if that’s really true, …at that point it’s doubtful we’re really going to be able to fix it,” he says.

However, the supposition that “hardwiring” made boys superior in math and science has appeared to fade over time, as girls in California and elsewhere have matched boys on standardized tests.

A second explanation holds that cultural norms involving masculinity and reading may be at play—that it’s not considered manly to read and write or even excel academically.

Several studies have shown that boys increasingly see school as a female pursuit and that various cultural cues depict reading and writing as feminine activity.

But the consistency of the gender gap internationally and over time casts doubt on that explanation. In cultures as varied as Finland’s and Japan’s, girls still score better on standardized tests.

Finally, many point to how schools are structured—a lack of sufficient recess to allow high-energy boys to blow off steam, reading materials unrelated to male interests and a predominantly female teaching workforce. But Loveless cautions that those arguments stem less from empirical research and more from old-fashioned stereotypes.

And again the gap persists in foreign education systems, many of which are radically different from ours. In addition, international and state reading tests are routinely tested for gender bias.

That leaves researchers like Loveless without a conclusive answer.

For its part, the California Department of Education is noncommittal on whether the gender reading gap is worthy of the administration’s attention. Differences between boys and girls still pale in comparison to differences found by race, ethnicity and class.

“There have often been gender gaps in performance,” a department spokesman said by email. “These gaps show up in different ways depending on what is being measured.…Some gender gaps are more noticeable within certain race/ethnicities.”

>>146921

>States realize gender gap hindering females in math/science/reading starting in elementary school
>Work fervently to fix this
>But completely leave boys' problems in the dust in favor of beating "girls-only" education drum for decades
>States now completely baffled as to how or why boys under-perform in crucial reading/writing categories
>Oh but, “I wouldn’t put this in the same category of severity or concern as other achievement gaps"

Well then, thanks for answering. I guess it's a problem that doesn't really matter as much. Maybe that's why boys continue to struggle in language testing.

>>146920

>Single motherhood in California is 8.25% (third highest in the nation)

>Single motherhood among blacks is 72%

The black family structure is shit in the US. This is not surprising.

>>146920
>Mrs. Teacher you have two choices
>Fail the young black male student who is struggling with literacy because he needs more help, making yourself look like a racist
>Or pass him despite the fact that he's not ready, push the problem onto the next person and don't look like a racist, and net your school more funding for producing a "graduate", ensuring your own job security.
>Also no one gives a crap about male students anymore so no one will care too much lol

>>146943
You should also mention welfare, that plays a big part in holding the black population back.

>>146939
>>146947

It's because "reading is for fags and girls" is still pervasive across American culture and fags and girls are still seen as "bad things"

The teachers probably aren't as concerned with it because right now the association is reading is feminine and feminine is bad. You can either break the femininity=bad link or reading=femininity link. One has a wide effect on society and one effects one subject of learning and still associates half of the population as being lesser.

>inb4 /r9k/ faggots say that "but femininity is lesser!" while complaining about sexism and not realizing the irony

>>146947

Also literally no one fails kids anymore because it's seen as extremely socially stigmatizing + for other reasons, but the schools don't have funding to offer remedial classes (which is also socially stigmatizing but at a lesser rate) as they move on so it fucks them.

>>146988
Pretty much this. The worse the school, the poorer the grades if peers, the greater the stigma of performing well. Black boys and men have more pressure on them to act masculine.

I don't know how we'll kill the nerd stigma, but it needs to be done for the kids.

Doesn't matter how much money you throw at them they will still fail.

>>146988
Don't be so quick to let the teachers off the hook

A big part of the problem is probably how academics are perceived but its the teachers responsibility to push past that and ensure that they are actually teaching their students, and that's something that they have obviously been failing at for a very long time

Then you have some that are actively sabotaging their male students http://joeforamerica.com/2017/02/kindergarten-teacher-boys-legos/

>>147029
I don't wanna be that guy, but that news article seems a little dubious. Firstly, it's hotly opinionated, and advocates harassing this teacher via telephone - pretty much every other paragraph. Also, it's filled with intrusive ads and clickbait links shoved in the middle of the story. I want to believe that out there some cunt is disallowing boys from playing with legos bc "feminism", but that article doesn't tell me anything except that it's uninformative and written with bias.

>>147034
Just search "teacher doesn't let boys play with legos"

>>146988
Only a feminist can take a male issue and somehow make it about the poor womenz.

Dubs were wasted on you, cunt.

>>147051
Liberals truly are the enemy.

>>146924
>>146923
>>146921
>>146920
>15 yeahs of NCLB that, in practice, made a single statewide standard decided by state
>Usually a low as fuck standard so that schools could proudly say their black and hispanic students have the best test scores in american history
>Schools are punished for not passing students, schools are caught coming up with creative statistics to mask students failing or dropping out
>Goes from teachong a broader set of skills for critical thinking, working out problems, hands on learning to regurgitating facts and formulaic methods to keep students passing the annual state tests

>Come from a culture that puts 0 emphasis on education
>Inner city youths whose only male role models are drug dealers and athletes
>School just pushes them through to avoid punishment under NCLB
>school is a bunch of shit youll never use anyways outside of a 4 hour state test.

Minority students all over the country have been doing worse. White students have been doing worse. Since the NCLB passed schools no longer were educating children to prepare them for the world, they were preparing them for a test. The new ESSA is labeled a replacement but all it does is remove punishments for failing students. It still creates a low "one size fits all" standard from state to state that makes no oppurtunities for gifted students or trade students unless individual schools have the budget for them.

People of color are genetically predisposed to fail by white standards.

They just aren't as smart.

>>147051

Dubs make it true desu.

You cannot pick and choose post number oracle readings.

>>146920
This racist shit wouldn't happen if they tested the kids on culturally appropriate subjects like rap and hip hop

>>147051
It's not about women, dude. It's about our societal understanding of gender roles and why it's hurting men. "femininity" doesn't automatically imply woman, it's just a concept of what is womanlike. Maybe we can change school material to encourage reading as "manly" again, but then that fixes nothing. All we would have gotten from the exercise is that 50% of people do better and 50% of people do worse. You just get nowhere with that.

The problem implied here is the influence that the concept of gender has on an activity, once it's there. This concept of gender has the power to actively discourage half of our population away from doing something that's beneficial to everyone. Why settle for 50% when you can have closer to 100%?

>>147053
God help them if those boys are growing up with reading comprehension as bad as you two are pretending to have.

>>147093
You're trolling but cultural context is genuinely important to learning. Children learn this context -very- early. And the prejudice and inhibitions this context forms are the foundation of their understanding of the world later in life.

>>147095
Why don't we make the teachers do their job and teach kids to read instead of trying to fix some social issue and hoping it helps?

>>147149
Highschool teacher here: that would be like heaven for us. Being able to do our job instead of being some kind of nanny/third parent, with little space for actual teaching.

Negros have yet to create a world changing empire or create anything to advance humanity.

>>147096
Some cultures deserve to die. The culture negros embrace is a cancer.

>>146988
it's actually just the bell curve

>>147159
And that is relevant because...?

>>147205
Negros are scientifically proven to be the lowest of the low collectively.

>>147240
Well, yeah. That's what happens when the continent you live in is utter shit to provide any concept of development, and AA have it even worse. The good thing though is that immigrants from Africa seem to have a much better aptitude for education. I figure once Nigeria and others get their shit together then we could start seeing some things.

>>146920
>75% of black California boys
>Black boys
>Black
>Boys
The left and right will both focus on race (for different reasons) and ignore gender
MRAs really are without support from either side...

>>147250
I hope you understand what it is you're saying, and what it is the person you're replying to is saying.

He's saying that their bell curve for intelligence is shifted to the left (and my own input here is that it's traditionally averaging around 80). What this means is, that there is a standard bell curve with it's center further to the left, but aside from that it acts in all aspects the same as a standard bell curve. I know I'm repeating myself a little bit here, but bare with me.

You're saying that immigrants from Africa seem to have a much better aptitude for education. Well, yes, because in order to immigrate on the grounds of education you have to be top tier.
Even if Africans are lower IQ than average, they, by sheer virtue of numbers, will have some intelligent ones due to how the bell curve works.

It's like saying men are taller than women on average. Yes, you'll get some tall women and short men, but the statement remains.

>>147149
Unless you can make the children want to learn a subject they will do anything in their power to be ignorant. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

>>146988
>reading is for fags and girls
what kind of shitty backward school did you go to? I went to a ghetto school for elementary and people did not think like that

>>147417
Not him but it's definitely more prevalent in middle-high. Went to a ghetto high school and illiteracy was strong.

>>147256
This has always been the case though, MRAs or not. Men's issues are always hijacked by something else, because men are too proud and hate their self interest like no other, and interest groups want to keep it that way. When men start being victims, and start having problems, there would be no easy target to blame the problem of other groups on. Men are a common enemy regardless of race, religion, and culture in the Western world.

"Just man up".

Gender this, race that. Shut up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR5Z4n1TdSI

>>146988
>"reading is for fags and girls" stereotype

Congrats for bending this so much that women and gays are the victim again.
I've been to several different schools, and nowhere did I ever see that stereotype come up, quite the opposite: Reading and grammar skills where, even by younger boys, admired.
I think the problem is that boys don't have a strong affinity to these areas like girls do, NOT "muh sexist patriarchy stereotypes and opression".
Gee, i wonder if this was written by a feminist.

>>147598
boys don't have a strong affinity to these areas like girls

what does that mean you fat american bastard?
Boys don't like talking good in your country lol blame the poor fucking boys hahaha stop

>>147240
Korea was too though. Not many people understand that iq tests are meant to measure mental retardation on s populace, not to fucking compare different areas because that isn't the point of it alongside that fact that iq increases as development grows and Iq can easily shift in poor countries.

>>146920
https://streamable.com/9k0xw dfg

>>146988

>either break the femininity=bad link or reading=femininity

The latter, plz

Do people not realize that males are naturally better at math and visual spatial skills while females are better at communication, linguistics, and rote memory? This is basic psychology.
>inb4 not a science
Neither is gender studies or politics.

>>147205
It's just something he says when boacknpeoplevone up. Makes him feel briefly better about his lack of accomplishments