General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "We Owe to Our Sons What We've Given Our Daughters" [View all]gollygee
(22,336 posts)Schools force kids to sit still at desks much earlier than they used to, so that they can learn the information needed to do well on standardized tests, which are incredibly important for funding. Boys mature a little bit later than girls, so the boys have a harder time with sitting still at the desk. Put 12 years of that together, and you have boys not doing as well at graduation time and not going to college as much.
I don't think the standardized tests are good for girls either. Girls are just able to sit still and put up with it better. I think it would do all kids a lot of good if teachers were allowed to use more creativity and these standardized tests were not created as the most important thing in the school universe.
So I think this was an unintended consequence of NCLB, and not caused by feminism. I do think it needs to be addressed, for the sake of all kids.