Why Smart Boys Get Bad Grades

Parents and teachers: a new web site with the answers, and tips for parents and teachers, is now open!  Just go to SmartBoysBadGrades.com

Boys are being penalized for "behavior unrelated to learning and knowledge achievement."  (memorize that phrase).

Grades are gender biased, particularly homework.  The solution to getting boys back into college costs no money, takes no time, and can be implemented immediately:  1. Stop penalizing students for turning homework in late; and 2. Allow students to quiz out of homework they already know.

Tests are gender neutral. Boys and girls test scores are roughly equal.
Yet 36% of boys, and 20% of girls have test scores considerably higher than their GPA. So colleges keep these smart students out of college.  We announcing our results with a Press Conference in Washington DC. Again, the web site is SmartBoysBadGrades.com

Comments

[Terry Newman]

These are interesting ideas. I'm wondering...would you also allow girls to turn in homework late? It seems as though there would be a lot of backlash from girls or their parents if they couldn't also do the same as boys.

[William Draves]

Terry, thanks for the clarification. Of course, all students should be able to turn in homework late. There are some girls who are penalized unfairly for late homework as well.

Even worse, many girls are told they know English or Math simply because they turned in the work on time. These recommendations will encourage teachers to help girls learn more too.

[anonymous]

Just stumbled on to this page. The rest of the world doesn't accommodate "turning in homework" (or whatever our lifelong realities are late, so why would we train our young people to be irresponsible? Why do you refer to penalizing students for late or missing homework as unfair? That's ridiculous.

[anonymous]

Just stumbled on to this page. The rest of the world doesn't accommodate "turning in homework" (or whatever our lifelong realities are) late, so why would we train our young people to be irresponsible? Why do you refer to penalizing students for late or missing homework as unfair? That's ridiculous.

[Erik Holden]

Solutions #1 and #2 are out of synch with each other. Solution #2 says to the student you are responsible for your learning and will be rewarded for your knowledge (read effort).

Solution #1 says even though you did not meet expectations set out in advance, you will also be rewarded.

We should not coddle boys in this way. The truly smart boys will hand in their homework on time or pay the consquences. It is that simple.

[Preston]

As a college professor and a mother of a boy who turned in 3 assignments in 4 years of high school, I am eagerly waiting for your press conference. Homework must be designed to reinforce a concept that has not been mastered yet or it is of no value. I just graded a stack of tests where the students missed questions similar to the homework assignments. So what did they learn from doing the assignments? Apparently, nothing. My son did well on the tests in high school but because he didn't do the assignments barely graduated. We were assured that all he had to do was the assignments to pass the various classes - not demonstrate that he had learned anything. So why did he need to take the class? These are the students who in college think that if they dl the work but still do not understand the material should pass the course.

[Julia Dozier]

Thank you for your fine research and writing for the Smart Boys, Bad Grades report. As the mother of a 2nd grade boy, this is a phenomenon that I plan to track and do what I can to avoid or reduce this syndrome. As an educational administrator, I plan to do what I can to address this issue at this level.

One comment in regards to your writing: When you were giving examples of turning in homework late and describing Dylan and Tristan (pg. 9), you indicated Tristan's race, but not Dylan's. Was it necessary to point out Tristan's ethnicity for this example? If so (and I'm not sure why it would be) then perhaps you should indicate's Dylan's ethnicity as well.

This may seem like a very trivial issue, especially in light of the much bigger picture that you were addressing (extremely well). However, as long as we point out people's ethnicity, (specifically those who are not Caucasian) in our conversation and writings I believe that we perpetuate the racism or "separate-ness" that is rampant in this country. As I very strongly suspect that is not your intention, I thought I'd bring this to your attention.

Thank you again for your report.


Julia A. Dozier
Director
Economic Development/Contract Education
Chabot-Las Positas Community College District
5020 Franklin Drive
Pleasanton, CA 94588

[Mary M Wisniewski]

Thanks again for your time (for a recent interview on Smart Boys Bad Grades). The magazine article (with interview on SmartBoys,Bad Grades)will finally be coming out this week and should be posted online soon. If you go to graphic.pepperdine.edu and then click on "currents" that's where my article will be. I'll send you a link once it's posted.
Thanks again,

[Terry Newman]

My son barely made it through high school but was recruited into the Navy Nuclear Engineering program because of his ASVAP scores. The Navy made sure that each "student" was successful by creating an environment that made it hard not to succeed. Part of this environment included a long day in the classroom and in-class study groups.
I was thinking that perhaps in high school if kids were kept in class longer (learning, not being babysat) with a smaller amount of homework to be done on the outside that kids would be more successful? I remember coming home from school with a math assignment and not even knowing where to start; there hadn't been enough in-class practice to reinforce what I was learning.

[Sandy Beasley]

Dear Mr. Draves,
My 16 year old is failing in school and it doesn't bother him at all (help)
I recently read your article on boys and bad grades.
I am very interested in learning more on the subject. I have a 16yr. old son. He does well in Math, but does poorly in classes like English. (his worst subject.) He is failing in most of his subjects and he doesn't seem to care. He is very intelligent. Although you wouldn't know it by his grades. He doesn't know skills such as note taking, or writing term papers. When I asked his teachers about why he doesn't know these skills, they reply most boys that enter High School don;t know these skills. It is not taught anymore.
My son loves video games and the computer. He spends hours on video games each weekend. I don't let him play on school days. He says he'd like to be a lawyer, but with his grades, I don't see college for him. He doesn't have interest in cars or driving as boys in the 1980's did.
I don't know what to do. How can I help him succeed in life. All he talks about is getting a job. But, I want his grades to improve or he will not pass High School.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Sandy Beasley

RESPONSE: Your son probably cares very much. But like millions of boys not getting the right teaching, this is the only way for him to deal with it. A separate email reply referred Ms. Beasley (and other mothers) to "Tips for Parents" at http://www.SmartBoysBadGrades.com

[John Doe]

You must have deadlines. Period. The problem is that smart boys know the inflated value of homework and test grades. When it is easy to cram in the information the night before, spit it out and forget it, why would you memorize it. Plus our culture does not reward smart boys who make good grades with status. Nerd and Geek is generally derogatory. We need less homework. Maybe leave it to papers, projects, and reading assignments only. Why should boys be expected to teach themselves through homework when teachers can't even apparantly teach them? One more thing, and this is huge, boy's have no competitive drive to make good grades. Post grade rankings on the walls. Post test scores with names. Leave off the bottom 25% if you need to be PC touchy feely nice, because that is obviously what the real world is about. Try giving the A students extra holiday time. Let the slackers catch up while the nerds are setting by the pool reading Guns, Germs, and Steel (shameless plug). Maybe give trophys. Big ones. It's silly I know, but non-jocks always hated jock's trophy cases. Napolean said something about men dying for a little piece of ribbon. Wise up. Female teachers are going to teach like they wanted to be taught. Geniuses (male and female) probably would prefer to learn on their own. Accomadate, guide, and monitor them. We need to overhaul a couple things holding back smart kids in general, not just boys.

[VeliuX]

Hello, I would like to add my thoughts. I am 20 years of age, I have always struggled in school. I have only been late a few times to work. I have a great job, that pays well. I live on my own, and pay my own bills without help. I just took out my roth IRA. My friends and family seem to think I am smart. I do however suck at school. Its not that its hard...its just the teaching styles in my opinion. Some students such as myself who work 40+ hours do not have time to do 3-4 hours worth of homework. I also find that I dont learn to much by homework. I also would say if you think that turning in homework late makes you irresponsible....then you need to go out more and meet more people. I turn in my homework late...but i am still able to pay my bills on time and make it to work on time. so STFU before you judge students as being irresponsible for turning homework in late...or maybe I am just a hybrid variable in this hypothesis...?

[D]

I am 22 and struggling to get back into college after a three failing semesters in a row. I look back at my schooling, and I have a couple observations for you.

1. Smart kids are being left behind, and mediocre students are being rewarded.
Example? I did more reading and studying on my own outside of school, than most of my classmates combined. I was /never/ rewarded for this behavior. If you don't follow the mold, they cut you down. I was punished for being passionate about studying topics and concepts I didn't understand as opposed to the mindless drivel provided by my school. At my high school the curriculum centered around rewarding those who were on time, not those who were academically honest about reconciling some of the finer details before handing a paper in. I learned a lot of important stuff without the aid of my teachers, who had no idea how to relate to my learning style. I have to wonder if the number of female teachers coincides with 36% of boys being out-of-sync on test day. Food for thought.

2. I've been late my whole life. I have a fundamental problem with the estimation of time. All I know is, when I hand in something, I make sure I did it right, or I don't do it at all. If I already know it and it's just an issue of wading through mindless blather for hours on end, then I'd rather spend my time reading about something worthwhile. Kids have priorities, too. Pass high school, hit a community college hard, and go to an ivy league. Don't waste your time on homework.

[smart but lazy]

help or hurt my argument i'm gonna be truthful.i'm 17,male,and about fail my 11th grade year anless i find my fairy godfather.i work 16+hrs/wk, study4+hrs/week(on hard test weeks), and barely,if ever,do homework.

now the funny thing about this is ,i'm in the midst my lowest school low, and yet i took the asvap recently and got an 85.(the navy wants me in the neuc. prog.)even i somtimes don't understand how my ability to learn is soo high.i relate with the boy who copes with failing by not caring.

mabe i'm just biased but i see nothing wrong with giving extra time to those who need it.if we can give special assistance to students with phisical disabilities then why can't we give it to students with inabilities to adjust to the corrent learning sytem.i could keep going but i'm just here to for answers to a problem.

i can see clearly that this year i'll have to make life altering decitions.i want to be a chef.i'm joining a branch of the military to pay 4 collage,but there are alot of other oppertunities being laid out b4 me.one of them is the navy nuc. program.they are offering me things that are really opening my eyes to new possibilities.but tho i'm confident that learning is no problem i'm hessitant to even give it a second look because i'm scared that i just cant make it in a school intensive field.do u have any advice to help me get over my fear of acedemic failir.