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CENTERVILLE - Talon Harker has always disliked homework, but the situation worsened in third grade.
He went from being able to spell most words on his level and read phonetically in kindergarten and first grade to struggling in second grade. His mother, Jennifer, became concerned and tried to get help, but by the end of third grade, he had stopped reading.
When Talon entered fourth grade this year, his mother insisted that he be tested. Her son had no learning disabilities, but he was several grade levels behind his peers.
Now the Centerville boy sees a reading specialist at Jennie P. Stewart Elementary and is "just squeaking by," reading Junie B. Jones books to his mother at night.
"Not reading well was affecting everything. He couldn't even do math because he couldn't read the instructions," Jennifer Harker said.
She doesn't know what changed between first and second grade, and she's frustrated.
"I just wish they could figure out how my son learns so I could help him more," she said.
Researchers are trying to do just that.
According to state data, boys in Utah drop out at a higher rate than girls, even though they fare the same on math and science standardized testing.
Across the nation, more than 80 percent of school disciplinary actions are aimed at boys and they take more medication for attention disorders, according to Kathy Stevens, co-author of the book The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in Life and School. She believes problems boys face often can be traced to the fact that they learn to read later and often never develop a love of reading.
On Utah's most recent statewide Criterion Reference Test, 79 percent of girls showed proficiency in reading while only 73 percent of boys did. Federal tests of Utah students show similar gaps.
That many boys struggle to be attentive in classrooms is not a new idea. Even Mark Twain highlighted the tendency in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. However, researchers and teachers hadn't really noticed how much boys struggled until girls only recently started to gain equality in the classroom. Once girls began out-succeeding boys, researchers such as Stevens began to wonder why.
"The school system is not very boy-friendly. We revamped the system when our girls weren't doing well, and now we need to take a look at boys," Stevens said.
Worth noting is the fact that boys learn differently than girls.
The differences are both sociological and biological. Boys' brains tend to shut down when they aren't being constantly stimulated. Brain scans have shown that blood flow in boys' brains decreases, according to Stevens. Girls have an advantage because they have a 15 percent higher blood flow than boys, and higher estrogen levels keep them attentive even when they are bored by a lesson.
Small changes can help engage boys, though. When a teacher stands in front of the class lecturing, boys will often stop listening and instead gaze out a window. Stevens says having the teacher walk around the room while lecturing helps.
"Boys and girls can be successful at the same content, it's just a matter of how the curriculum is implemented," Stevens said.
The "biggest area of concern" for Stevens is reading and language arts. Boys tend to shy away from fiction but enjoy nonfiction.
"Boys like to know how things work and how to take things apart. Girls tend to like the relationship stuff that develops in fiction," she said.
Utah school districts have seen the research about differences in learning styles and are working to improve boys' reading scores.
Reading coaches around the state are incorporating more nonfiction into their curriculum.
Carolynn Christensen, Jordan School District elementary literacy specialist, has noticed a big difference in boys' and girls' reading habits.
"Girls can get lost in fairy tales, but boys like things that address real life," Christensen said.
In the 18 months the Jordan district has had literacy facilitators, more nonfiction has been added to libraries and reading groups. Many nonfiction texts now have specific reading levels so teachers can assign out a book that is appropriate for the reader.
Mary Lou Damjanovich, a Jordan literacy facilitator, says it's important to find books that spark children's interest. If a student has an interest in sharks, finding nonfiction and fiction books that deal with sharks can engage the student.
"Children can become lifelong readers if they find books that are of interest to them," Damjanovich said.
However, that may not be enough.
Stevens says boys are at a disadvantage from their first day in a classroom.
Boys in kindergarten are often pushed too hard too early. She says at age 5, boys' brains are not as ready to take in content as girls' are. Girls are often more than a year ahead developmentally. Boys' fine motor skills often aren't developed enough to hold a pencil and write their numbers and letters.
"If boys started school at age 6, it would be much better," Stevens said.
Along with starting boys at a different age, she said creating single-sex classrooms can be ideal.
"If you have an English class of all boys, you're going to be using different books and finding other ways to help the boys get it. It's just like a math class of all boys is going to look really different from a math class of all girls. It's the same material, but it would be presented in a different way, maybe with more visuals and more interactive stuff," she said.
However, she said if teachers and principals aren't comfortable creating single-sex classrooms, implementing strategies that appeal to both boys and girls helps improve results.
"Having some things that will help the boys and some things that help the girls is not detrimental to either of them and it actually helps to have a good mix of implementation strategies," she said.
Statewide Criterion Reference Test (CRT):
The test results show how many students statewide are "proficient," meaning that the child is on or above grade level.
* Reading
Boys: 73 percent are proficient
Girls: 79 percent are proficient
* Math
Boys: 71 percent are proficient
Girls: 70 percent are proficient
* Science
Boys: 62 percent are proficient
Girls: 59 percent are proficient
Federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The assessment uses a 500-point scale.
Language Arts
4th Grade
Boys: 216
Girls: 226
8th Grade:
Boys: 255
Girls: 269
Math
4th Grade:
Boys: 240
Girls: 237
8th Grade:
Boys: 280
Girls: 278