A Challenge of Olympic Proportions: Getting Boys to Read
NEW YORK, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- If reading were an Olympic sport, it
would be the women holding all the gold medals and world records -- not the
men. In fact, the women are not just passing their male counterparts when
it comes to reading, they are lapping them around the track.
"The Olympic games serve as an apt metaphor and occur at an appropriate
time to remind the nation's educators and parents that we need to
acknowledge this widespread problem, and work harder to engage boys in
reading," said noted children's author Jon Scieszka, who was recently named
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of
Congress.
Scieszka points to staggering statistics underlying the boys reading
crisis:
-- Boys have lagged behind girls on reading tests in every age group for
the last 30 years, according to the U.S. Department of Education;
-- Eighth grade boys are 50 percent more likely to be held back than
girls;
-- Two-thirds of special education students in high school are boys;
-- Overall college enrollment is higher for girls than boys.
Scieszka said that it's pretty clear that a boy's vision of the perfect
lazy summer day won't include reading under a shade tree. Experts are
starting to make progress researching the roots of this decline. Why has
this largely invisible crisis happened?
One of the central problems is that boys tune out when the subject
matter doesn't resonate with them.
"Boys have trouble reading because they don't get to read for a purpose
that makes any sense to them," Scieszka said. "So they turn off to all of
reading."
He noted that boys often have trouble reading for other reasons:
-- Biologically, boys are slower to develop than girls and often struggle
with reading and writing skills early on;
-- The action-oriented, competitive learning style of many boys works
against them when learning to read and write;
-- As a society, we teach boys to suppress feelings. Boys often don't feel
comfortable exploring the emotions and feelings found in fiction;
-- Boys don't have enough positive male role models for literacy. Because
the majority of adults involved in kids' reading are women, boys might
not see reading as a masculine activity.
Scieszka, who recently partnered with the education publisher Pearson,
is bringing his expertise into U.S. classrooms as an author of the new
Reading Street elementary school curriculum as well as the Prentice Hall
Literature programs for middle and high school. He said, "As a society we
need to make more of an effort to connect boys with many different kinds of
reading -- both at home and at school."
He added, "If we can expand the notion of what reading is, we'll have a
better chance of inspiring boys to want to be readers. This means
broadening our definition of reading to include boy-friendly nonfiction,
humor, sports, comics, graphic novels, action-adventure, magazines,
websites, and newspapers. Boys need to know that these materials count as
reading."
Scieszka offers a simple suggestion for engaging boys to read.
"We can help boys become readers by giving them a reason to want to
become readers," he said. "This approach opens the door and the mind. Once
a boy starts reading, he will be more receptive to many other types of
reading over his lifetime."
About Jon Scieszka -- Jon Scieszka was a teacher for ten years in New
York City Public Schools, drawing inspiration from his students to create
award-winning bestsellers such as "The Stinky Cheese Man," which won the
Caldecott Honor Medal, "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," and, most
recently, the popular "Trucktown" Series aimed mainly at boys (but for
girls too!) who are just learning to read. He credits his experience in the
classroom with teaching him the respect for kids' intelligence and humor
that he tries to appeal to in all of his writings for them. To bring his
commitment to reading directly into schools around the country, Scieszka
recently joined the educational publisher Pearson as an author of the
Reading Street elementary curriculum, and the Prentice Hall middle and high
school literature programs. Scieszka is the founder of GUYS READ, a
nonprofit literacy initiative for boys to draw attention to the issues
around boys and reading. In 2008, he was named the first U.S. National
Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress, a role
that provides him another platform to share his passion and concern for
inspiring children to read. For more on boys and reading, visit Scieszka's
web site, http://www.guysread.com.
About Pearson -- Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the global leader in education
and education technology, reaches and engages today's digital natives with
effective and personalized learning, as well as dedicated professional
development for their teachers. Pearson's research-based Reading Street
elementary program ranked was the #1 reading curriculum in the nation for
2007. Pearson's commitment to education is demonstrated in the company's
investment in innovative print and digital education materials for preK
through college, student information systems and learning management
systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs,
and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry.
The company's respected brands include Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall,
Addison Wesley, Benjamin Cummings, Educational Measurement, Educational
Assessment, SuccessNet, MyLabs, PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, and many others.
Pearson's comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and
intervention so that success is within reach of every student at every
level of education. Pearson's commitment to education for all is supported
by the global philanthropic initiatives of the Pearson Foundation.
Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and
the Penguin Group. For more information, go to http://www.pearson.com.
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