Professional Development Chat

Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps

In this chat, Kelley King, the author of Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner's Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School, discussed the differences in the ways boys and girls learn and identify common school practices that have unintended negative outcomes for boys. She also answered your questions about closing gender gaps in academic achievement, with focused advice on professional development, relationship building, schoolwide planning, and instructional strategies.

Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps

Tuesday, April 2, 2013, 4 to 5 p.m. ET
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Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps

(04/02/2013)

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9:16

Bryan Toporek:
Good morning and welcome to today’s free EdWeekTeacher chat, Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps. I’ve just opened the chat for questions, so please start submitting yours below.

We’ll be back at 4 p.m. ET with author Kelley King. Hope to see you then!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 9:16 Bryan Toporek

3:48

Bryan Toporek:
Thanks again for joining us for today’s chat, Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps. We’ll be getting underway right at the top of the hour with educator-author Kelley King.

In the meantime, please continue submitting your questions below!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 3:48 Bryan Toporek

3:59

Bryan Toporek:
Alright, folks, I’m turning control of the chat over to today’s moderator, Liana Heitin, the associate editor of our Education Week Teacher channel.

Take it away, Liana!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 3:59 Bryan Toporek

3:59

Liana Heitin:
Hi everyone and welcome to our discussion on Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps. Thanks so much for joining us.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 3:59 Liana Heitin

4:00

Liana Heitin:
Our guest today is Kelley King, author of Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School. Kelley, would you go ahead and introduce yourself?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:00 Liana Heitin

4:00

Kelley King:
Hi, I’ve been a school administrator for 13 years and I am currently a Master Trainer with the Gurian Institute. I provide professional development to schools all over the world, and I am the author of three books on gender strategies. Writing the Playbook, which is my most recent book, is a step-by-step guide for creating a boy-friendly school.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:00 Kelley King

4:00

Liana Heitin:
Excellent. We’ve got lots of great questions coming in. So let’s get started.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:00 Liana Heitin

4:00

Liana Heitin:
Here’s one from Meredith.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:00 Liana Heitin

4:00

[Comment From MeredithMeredith: ]
Can you elaborate on the perception that the traditional school system is a better fit for girls than it is for boys?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:00 Meredith

4:01

Kelley King:
Hi Meredith, I find that most agree - parents and teachers - that girls are a better fit for the traditional sit-n-git, lecture style of many classrooms>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:01 Kelley King

4:02

Liana Heitin:
Any idea why that is, Kelley?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:02 Liana Heitin

4:03

Kelley King:
Absolutely - boys are more likely to need a more active learning environment. Girls also benefit from that, but are neurologically more tolerant of sitting for longer periods of time.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:03 Kelley King

4:03

Kelley King:
Now notice that I am not saying “all boys” or “all girls”...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:03 Kelley King

4:04

Kelley King:
But generally speaking, boys are more likely to be the kids in class who need to get up and move more frequently, engage in competition, etc>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:04 Kelley King

4:04

Liana Heitin:
Here’s a related question from Sarah:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:04 Liana Heitin

4:04

[Comment From SarahSarah: ]
How much were your strategies specifically geared to boys, as opposed to, say, “students who like to be physically active,” or “students who are impulsive”? How do you avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes in your staff when developing these interventions?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:04 Sarah

4:05

Kelley King:
Good question Sarah. At my school where I was principal, we focused on boys specifically. That was because we were targeting the underachievement of boys and needed to identify that subgroup...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:05 Kelley King

4:06

Kelley King:
It was also helpful for us, as educators, to really think about that group of students and recognize that it is a large subgroup (50%) and not just a few “exceptional” kids. I felt that it was helpful to identify a critical mass of sorts, so that we were compelled to change instruction more globally and not just for a few kids in each class....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:06 Kelley King

4:07

Kelley King:
In terms of avoiding stereotypes, we talk about all kids being on a continuum of male-brained to female-brained and understand that there is a great deal of overlap there. In that way, we can identify girls who are more “male brained” and boys who are more “female brained.” At the end of the day, we individualize for kids using gender strategies that help ALL.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:07 Kelley King

4:08

Kelley King:
>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:08 Kelley King

4:08

Liana Heitin:
Here’s a good follow-up on that from Sue.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:08 Liana Heitin

4:08

[Comment From Sue KleinSue Klein: ]
If the strategies you used helped girls as well as boys, what rigorous scientific evidence do you have that girls and boys learn differently in any ways?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:08 Sue Klein

4:09

Kelley King:
Yes - you are right. The strategies really help both. I like to think of the strategies as helping all students, but that some students need the strategies more than others. For those really active kids who can be the most challenging to teach, it can be a make-it-or-break-it proposition.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:09 Kelley King

4:09

Kelley King:
There are many sources cited in my book about the small, yet significant, brain differences (both structural and chemical) between males and females. Here are a few….Baron-Cohen 2004, Cahill 2005, Xu 2012, Mandal 2012, Walderhaug 2007, Lee & Harley 2012. Of course, there is much more to learn about the human brain and, as educators, we need to constantly stay abreast of the latest research.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:09 Kelley King

4:10

Liana Heitin:
So now let’s get into the strategies specifically...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:10 Liana Heitin

4:10

[Comment From Miya ReneeMiya Renee: ]
What teaching strategies did you implement to help male students?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:10 Miya Renee

4:10

Kelley King:
Thanks Miya, We can look at it on two levels: How do we set up a boy-friendly classroom AND the instructional strategies....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:10 Kelley King

4:12

Kelley King:
In terms of classroom set-up, some quick tips: room for various types of activities, flexible seating arrangements (or desks that are easily moved around), access to hand fidgets (things to squeeze), procedures that allow kids to get up and get their own class materials instead of kids to hand things out to everyone.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:12 Kelley King

4:13

Kelley King:
In terms of instructional strategies: Break up direct instruction (lecture) frequently with things like pair-share, use movement breaks (stand up and stretch, for example) when kids are getting tired, integrate music at times (good Eric Jensen research on this), let kids incorporate their outside interests into the curriculum (ie. skateboarding physics), and allow for some competition at times.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:13 Kelley King

4:14

Liana Heitin:
Thanks, Kelley. Here’s one from Kathleen on grade-level differences.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:14 Liana Heitin

4:14

[Comment From KathleenKathleen: ]
Are there differences in the gender gap in elementary school vs. middle or high school? And also aren’t boys ahead of girls in other subjects like math, STEM?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:14 Kathleen

4:15

Kelley King:
Two good questions Kathleen. Girls start out, on average, about a year and a half ahead of boys when they enter kindergarten in terms of receptive and expressive language....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:15 Kelley King

4:15

Kelley King:
This gap in language continues as kids learn how to read and write. There are significant gender gaps on state literacy assessments through all grade levels tested....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:15 Kelley King

4:16

Kelley King:
The OECD tests 15 year olds every year. They have documented significant achievement gaps in reading. Also a recent report (2010 I believe) by the Center on Education Policy documents persistent reading/writing gaps....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:16 Kelley King

4:17

Kelley King:
Math gaps are a little different. There are no gaps between boys and girls in computational skills and in basic scientific knowledge...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:17 Kelley King

4:18

Kelley King:
The gaps in math and science emerge in the areas of more abstract problem-solving and application of skills in both math and science. These gaps are not as big as the reading/writing gap. We have had some success in narrowing math/science gaps and need to maintain that!. >

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:18 Kelley King

4:18

Liana Heitin:
A question about ADHD:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:18 Liana Heitin

4:18

[Comment From GuestGuest: ]
How does the huge number of boys diagnosed with - and medicated for - ADD factor in here?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:18 Guest

4:18

Kelley King:
There is an over-diagnosis of boys for ADHD....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:18 Kelley King

4:19

Kelley King:
There are some boys who are more active, but don’t rise to the extreme levels that constitute ADHD. When we teach to accommodate the needs of active boys, fewer will be identified as such.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:19 Kelley King

4:20

Kelley King:
When we teach in a way that requires kids to sit for long periods of time, operate verbally, engage in lengthy fine motor tasks, well, some kids will have more trouble with that. More often boys. And they are at risk of being identified as ADHD....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:20 Kelley King

4:20

Kelley King:
Part of the problem is that sometimes we want to get all the little boys to act like the little girls. And that is not honoring the nature of boys.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:20 Kelley King

4:21

Liana Heitin:
How do you know it’s an overdiagnosis? And not simply that more boys than girls have ADHD? Or that the number of kids w/ ADHD is rising (as the NYT reported this week)?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:21 Liana Heitin

4:22

Kelley King:
Fair question Liana! I’m glad you brought up the NYT report. First off, 80% of children identified with ADHD are boys. That’s the first indicator....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:22 Kelley King

4:23

Kelley King:
Sometimes, girls (who tend to have a more passive form of ADD) are under-diagnosed. But we have too many active boys identified. Think about which kids are being referred to special ed.....75% of those are boys.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:23 Kelley King

4:24

Kelley King:
Now, there are some conditions that boys are more likely to have- boys have higher rates of autism, learning disabilities, speech disabilities, etc. But not at a rate of 80%...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:24 Kelley King

4:25

Kelley King:
The NYT report is interesting, but it is based on self-reported information by parents - not based on an analysis of medical records. So there is room for error. We have to first try different strategies - such as boy-friendly strategies - in t he classroom before labeling kids as having a medical problem.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:25 Kelley King

4:25

Liana Heitin:
Great, thanks so much, Kelley. Moving on to discipline...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:25 Liana Heitin

4:25

[Comment From Olly WallaOlly Walla: ]
Should discipline techniques take gender into account, or should they be uniform? If they’re not uniform, how do you explain those differences to students?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:25 Olly Walla

4:26

Kelley King:
I think we have to have high expectations for all students and fairness in the system. At the same time, Olly, I think it is important to recognize that we need to connect with kids differently in order to help de-escalate situations and help kids problem solve....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:26 Kelley King

4:27

Kelley King:
By that I mean, with girls, it might be effective to sit down and talk about what happened, next steps, ways to fix the problem etc. We should also have different strategies in our back pocket that would help a lot of boys....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:27 Kelley King

4:27

Kelley King:
For example, let that boy cool off on his own for a little bit and then go for a walk while you discuss the problem, instead of sitting in an office and making eye contact the whole time.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:27 Kelley King

4:28

Kelley King:
We also need to re-examine the value of zero tolerance discipline policies because they have not shown to make schools more safe over the last 10 years. BUT they have proven to cause a lot of boys to be kicked out....too many boys and for silly infractions like chewing a pastry into the shape of a gun.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:28 Kelley King

4:29

Liana Heitin:
Great tips. And now an excellent question on single-sex ed:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:29 Liana Heitin

4:29

[Comment From AdamAdam: ]
Would you consider all-male academic environments to be boy-friendly? What’s missing from them that makes them better or worse than coed schools?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:29 Adam

4:30

Kelley King:
That is a good question, Adam. The answer is maybe! It depends on how they teach. If they put all the boys together in the same school (or classroom) and continue to teach in a traditional, lecture-based manner, then that is NOT boy-friendly....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:30 Kelley King

4:30

Kelley King:
Too many schools have separated the boys and girls and then gone on to teach them in the same way. Too bad and it is most unsuccessful in teh boys’ classrooms....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:30 Kelley King

4:31

Kelley King:
An all-boys environment is a great opportunity to build a culture that focuses on helping boys become men. There is a wonderful opportunity for mentoring and role-modeling between students and between students and adults. Oftentimes, there is a higher percentage ofmale teachers...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:31 Kelley King

4:32

Kelley King:
also, many boys schools offer rites-of-passage opportunities, team-building, and are more open to competition in the classroom setting.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:32 Kelley King

4:32

Liana Heitin:
I take it that means boys tend to be more interested in competition than girls?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:32 Liana Heitin

4:34

Kelley King:
Yes, generally speaking, boys get excited about the opportunity to compete. They may not be that interested in the content itself, but they sure do want to win. So this has been a great motivating strategy for teachers to use. Some boys are more sensitive, but the opportunity to compete within a safe, structure and healthy environment can build their confidence as they prepare to move into a competitive world.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:34 Kelley King

4:34

Liana Heitin:
And from Ruth:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:34 Liana Heitin

4:34

[Comment From RuthRuth: ]
What about the role of male teachers? Is it true that having a male teacher makes boys more apt to listen/learn in class?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:34 Ruth

4:35

Kelley King:
Hi Ruth, A male teacher can be great on a few different levels, but the most important thing, of course, is the quality of the teacher.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:35 Kelley King

4:36

Kelley King:
With that said, a high-quality male teacher for boys can be an excellent role model. Boys look to men to figure out what it means to be a man. It is good for boys to see males in academic and helping roles....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:36 Kelley King

4:37

Kelley King:
Male teachers who share their own writing with their class or share a favorite book with the class....that is great for boys to see. Also male teachers can sometimes understand what it means to be a boy in a classroom because of their own experiences.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:37 Kelley King

4:37

Liana Heitin:
And back to strategies:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:37 Liana Heitin

4:37

[Comment From MiyaMiya: ]
Did you do anything specific to help boys improve in reading and writing?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:37 Miya

4:38

Kelley King:
Yes, Miya, we sure did. It was our goal to close the large gap between boys and girls in reading and writing on the state assessments. We did that in one year and maintained it.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:38 Kelley King

4:38

Liana Heitin:
(Impressive!)

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:38 Liana Heitin

4:39

Kelley King:
First, we incorporated more movement into the classroom - getting up and walking to a partner across the room, allowing kids to use a clipboard to work on the floor, letting students write at standing stations, letting kids stand up during a lecture,....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:39 Kelley King

4:40

Kelley King:
Then we made sure that we had books in our classrooms and library that were interesting to boys. We found that most of our books tended to appeal to the so-called “girl’ topics, so we stocked up on more graphic novels, action stories, etc. the website http://www.guysread.com offers some great book suggestions....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:40 Kelley King

4:40

Kelley King:
Next, we made sure that we gave kids lots of opportunities to draw BEFORE they started to write. This could be drawing a picture or a storyboard, or it could be creating a graphic organizer. The key is to let kids get their ideas down pictorially/graphically before they start to construct their thoughts in words....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:40 Kelley King

4:41

Kelley King:
I can’t cover everything here, but I will just add that some all-boys and all-girls groups for kids whenn they are sharing their writing or picking reading books can also be great. The boys wanted to share their barf stories and the girls wanted to share their unicorn stories! >

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:41 Kelley King

4:43

Liana Heitin:
And here’s a question about technology.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:43 Liana Heitin

4:43

[Comment From Julie YamamotoJulie Yamamoto: ]
How does technology fit into the differences between the way boys and girls learn--or does it? More and more teachers and parents seem to be trying to integrate computer games or APPS into the classroom to reinforce concepts?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:43 Julie Yamamoto

4:44

Kelley King:
Technology can be a tool to increase motivation and engagement. There are some interesting websites that allow kids to create books online or that allow them to even design things like video games (a great avenue for technical writing)....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:44 Kelley King

4:45

Kelley King:
Another application is for students to create “book trailers” that are similar to movie trailers, instead of doing a standard book report. The ideas are endless and they can be very engaging for kids, especially for the male students who are geared towards visual-spatial processing.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:45 Kelley King

4:45

Liana Heitin:
Here’s a related question about gaming.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:45 Liana Heitin

4:45

[Comment From SamanthaSamantha: ]
I may have missed this, but what do you think of games and gaming in the classroom especially to address the needs of boys?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:45 Samantha

4:46

Liana Heitin:
(You didn’t miss it, Samantha.)

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:46 Liana Heitin

4:46

Kelley King:
Hi Samantha, I think it can be a great strategy. If you are clear on the instructional objective and the game/gaming can accomplish that, it is a win-win...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:46 Kelley King

4:47

Kelley King:
It may also work wonderfully for girls! The higher the level of engagement and positive association with the learning experience, the more we keep kids loving the learning process today, as well as in the future.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:47 Kelley King

4:47

Liana Heitin:
Just a reminder that we only have about 10 minutes left in the chat, so please get your remaining questions in now!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:47 Liana Heitin

4:48

Liana Heitin:
Here’s a question about kindergartners.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:48 Liana Heitin

4:48

[Comment From ErikaErika: ]
What strategies would you implement at the Kindergarten level of teaching boys effectively? Also, what can parents do at home to reinforce these strategies? Do you believe in a behavior chart at this age?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:48 Erika

4:49

Kelley King:
Hi Erika, Kindergarten teachers usually use some of the best strategies because everyone is active at that age level....things like not making them sit and listen for long lengths of time, more hands-on, more visual cues like visual schedules and letting kids draw, more movement opportunities, singing to learn new concepts......

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:49 Kelley King

4:50

Kelley King:
All of that good stuff that kindergarten teachers do needs to be extended up into the higher grades. Just because kids get big and tall...and in high school they look like grown ups....doesn’t mean that they have adult brains yet....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:50 Kelley King

4:50

Kelley King:
Their brains are more childlike than adult like and we forget that....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:50 Kelley King

4:51

Kelley King:
I think that behavior charts can work well and are essential for some kids. They should focus on just one target behavior at a time and should be focused on being positive -a celebration.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:51 Kelley King

4:51

Liana Heitin:
Speaking of adult male learners...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:51 Liana Heitin

4:51

[Comment From April MurphyApril Murphy: ]
I am an adult educator. Do you think that adult male students have the same issues as children in the learning environment?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:51 April Murphy

4:52

Kelley King:
Thank you, April! Absolutely! It is so important for educators to know how the brain functions differently - and that is for children and adults....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:52 Kelley King

4:53

Kelley King:
Simon Baron-Cohen’s research on the rest states of adult males and females shows us that males “zone out” more often than females do. A zoned-out male brain does not hear what the teacher is saying, whereas a zoned-out female brain is able to passively listen and even take notes!.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:53 Kelley King

4:53

Kelley King:
If we don’t understand the impact of this kind of zoning out on learning and behavior - even among adult students - we are really missing the boat.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:53 Kelley King

4:53

Liana Heitin:
That’s fascinating about zoning out. Ok, last call for questions!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:53 Liana Heitin

4:54

Liana Heitin:
Here’s one from a concerned parent:

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:54 Liana Heitin

4:54

[Comment From Rachael MRachael M: ]
As a parent of a 6 year old boy, what should I say to his first grade teacher who will not let him go outside and play with the other kids when he doesn’t finish his work. (He leaves for speech 3 times a weeks and tends to be behind.)

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:54 Rachael M

4:55

Kelley King:
Well, Rachael, I discuss this in my book. There are certain classroom and school policies that inadvertently hurt boys. I know that teachers don’t want to hurt the kids!! But sometimes our good intentions have unintentional outcomes....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:55 Kelley King

4:56

Kelley King:
Taking recess away from kids is a problem. There is a ton of research on how much more effectively and efficiently the brain learns after an opportunity to move. Behavior, attitude and motivation all increase after the opportunity to move. We need to find alternatives to taking away recess.....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:56 Kelley King

4:57

Kelley King:
When teachers realize that taking away recess actuallymakes THEIR job harder, then it can change their mind. Alternatively, when other kids have “free choice” time in the classroom, that could be a time for kids to finish unfinished work. But all kids need to get out and run around if the learning is to be effective later in the day.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:57 Kelley King

4:57

Liana Heitin:
(As an aside, we recently published a first-person piece on the importance of movement for learners.)

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:57 Liana Heitin

4:57

Liana Heitin:
(Here it is: http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/03/19/fp_griss.html)

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:57 Liana Heitin

4:58

Liana Heitin:
OK, one final question from Julie.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:58 Liana Heitin

4:58

[Comment From Julie YamamotoJulie Yamamoto: ]
How do you find out whether a child has a “boy brain” or “girl brain”?

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:58 Julie Yamamoto

4:59

Kelley King:
Hi Julie - your question made me smile! Well, the male-female brain continuum is really about whether you are a more visual-kinesthetic learner or a more verbal learner. It can be observed certainly in ourselves and others. Males are more likely to be visual-kinesthetic, but not exclusively so....

Tuesday April 2, 2013 4:59 Kelley King

5:00

Kelley King:
There is an interesting online “test” you can take at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk. You search for “sex id” on their site and it will take you there.>

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:00 Kelley King

5:00

Liana Heitin:
Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have for today. A special thanks to Kelley King for her insightful answers throughout this hour. And thanks to you all as well for participating!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:00 Liana Heitin

5:00

Liana Heitin:
If you’re interested in Kelley’s book, you can find it here: http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book238867

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:00 Liana Heitin

5:00

Liana Heitin:
Thanks again everyone and have a great day!

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:00 Liana Heitin

5:00

Kelley King:
Thank you Liana and all. More resources and info are at:
http://www.boyfriendlyschools.com.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:00 Kelley King

5:01

Bryan Toporek:
Thanks, Liana! That’s a great place to wrap up. Thanks to all who joined us today, and a special thanks goes out to our excellent guest, Kelley King.

We’ll have the transcript of today’s chat up on this same page within about 30 minutes.

Thanks again for joining us and have a great rest of the week! Be sure to check edweek.org for all of our upcoming virtual events.

Tuesday April 2, 2013 5:01 Bryan Toporek

5:02

Strategies for Addressing School Gender Gaps

Tuesday, April 2, 2013, 4 to 5 p.m. ET

As a principal, Kelley King was troubled by the gaps she saw between male and female students in reading, writing, and discipline. Through an intensive “boy-friendly school initiative,” involving research, progress monitoring, and professional development, she and her colleagues turned around the low-performance of boys at her school and closed the gap in just a year. And as it turned out, the strategies that helped boys, she says, helped girls as well.

In this chat, King, the author of Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School, discussed the differences in the ways boys and girls learn and identify common school practices that have unintended negative outcomes for boys. She also answered your questions about closing gender gaps in academic achievement, with focused advice on professional development, relationship building, schoolwide planning, and instructional strategies.

Guest:
Kelley King is a 25-year veteran educator, an international speaker, an author, and a mother of both a son and a daughter. As a master trainer for the Gurian Institute, Kelley travels widely to deliver keynotes, teacher workshops, and consultation to educators and parents. Additionally, Kelley develops and facilitates cutting-edge training curricula for online teacher education.

As a school administrator, Kelley led her staff to close the gender gap in reading and writing in just one year and, in doing so, gained national media attention. In addition to her new book, Kelley has coauthored two previous books on strategies for teaching boys and girls.

Liana Heitin, associate editor, Education Week Teacher, moderated this chat.