Raising the Reading Achievement of Boys

Much has been written about the reading lives of boys. Their perceived dismissal of all things literary, their preference for "real reading" over "school reading," and the performance gap between boys and girls are just a few of the issues that cause concern for educators.

While reading my teenage son's copy of ESPN Magazine, I came across an article titled "Baron and The Game" that left me completely baffled. Written in a casual dialogue format, the piece featured a conversation between NBA basketball player Baron Davis and his former high school teammate "The Game," a multi-platinum rapper. In one segment of their conversation, The Game gives an account of a trip to the White House where he met Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice. When asked about his opinion of her, The Game remarked, "Rice is cool. She's an O.G."

In another exchange, The Game comments that while many of his friends pursued a career in professional basketball, he chose music, despite having "crazy hops." He imagines a place for himself on an NBA team, saying, "You know who's got space? The Clippers." To this, Baron responds, "Wait, Shaun Livingston's sick and Cat plays your 2, plus they got Cassell. The Clippers are gonna be good. You could probably play for the Lakers, though."*

I could pronounce all the words and even make inferences from some of the exchanges and quips, but I wasn't really "getting it." I wasn't in on the joke. I turned to my teenaged son to scaffold my learning and help me to make meaning. Reading the ESPN article and discussing it with my son was very enlightening. He helped me to understand the shifts in how words were used, made connections between my experiences and the text, and provided new information to deepen my understanding of the text. The experience was a somewhat authentic way for me to connect with the feelings and frustrations struggling readers face regularly. How frequently do boys feel "left out of the joke" when reading texts that are so far removed from their spheres of interest? It was also a perfect illustration of the connection between the social and cognitive aspects of reading.

Certainly, my "struggle" with reading doesn't come close to the level of anxiety students experience when puzzling through an unfamiliar text on a state reading assessment. Still, it offers a context for discussing effective strategies aimed at addressing the particular learning needs of boys who are not engaged readers.

How do boys perform on the Ohio Graduation Test?

National assessment data show a double-digit-point gap between the NAEP reading scores of middle and high school girls and boys. Similar discrepancies can also be found in Ohio's test data. Although high school girls in Ohio outperform boys on the reading assessment, overall passage rates are high for both groups. In 2005, OGT results for reading indicate that 93 percent of girls scored proficient or higher compared with 88 percent of boys. More girls than boys performed at the advanced level, 31 percent of girls compared with 23 percent of boys. While we'd like to see more comparable levels among high-achieving students, boys at the highest performance level are not the primary cause for concern. We have to look more closely, examining data by race/ethnicity to have a more complete picture of boys' achievement on the OGT. When comparing the performance of boys by race and ethnicity, the performance gap is more pronounced, as Chart 1 shows.

Clearly, the two groups needing the greatest degree of intervention are Hispanic and black/African American boys. The data for this group are particularly alarming. Summary data for the 2005 OGT for Reading revealed the following:

Nearly 30 percent of African American and Hispanic boys did not meet the state performance standard for reading, scoring below the proficient level.
The mean scaled score for African American boys was 413, compared with 433 for all students tested.
Among black/African American girls, 85 percent met state standards, compared with 72 percent of African American boys.
One-third of all boys at the limited proficiency level were black/African American, even though they only represent about 13 percent of all boys administered the OGT in March 2005.

What strategies will provide additional support for all underachieving boys?

There are no easy solutions for raising the achievement levels for boys. Apart from the difficulties with the reading process, we must also address the way boys view reading. There is no denying that masculinity and growing into manhood are intertwined with boys' negative attitudes toward reading. We must use a variety of activities that go beyond traditional test preparation and address both the social and cognitive aspects of reading.

Expand the range of genres used for instruction
The texts that have the greatest appeal for boys frequently fall outside of the collection of texts traditionally included in the language arts curriculum. The key is to get boys reading.
Look for texts that―

Play into boys' sense of mischief
Are fast-paced texts that make boys feel like they are part of the action
Provide cool "exportable knowledge" that boys can refer to in casual conversation with peers
Allow boys to apply their reading to activities related to a sport, hobby, or other interest
Spark controversy or have themes that are somewhat "edgy"
Have strong and likable (and dislikable) main characters
(Brozo,2002; Maloney, 2002; Smith & Wilhelm, 2002)

Connect "real reading" to "school reading"
Too often, boys, particularly those who struggle, underestimate the social aspect of reading. "School reading" is viewed as a solitary activity and is completely unrelated to the "real reading" that takes place outside of school. Integrating motivating topics, such as popular music, computer technology and innovations, war history, cars, and gaming, provides opportunities to make connections between out-of-school literacies and academic literacy. Many of the strategies boys use to access and process information for "real reading" have pertinent applications for school reading. Invite students to bring in examples of their "real reading" materials and use these samples as part of classroom instruction.

Model how to read challenging texts by making your thinking visible for students
Classroom teacher and writer Kelly Gallagher says that the "hard parts" related to reading challenging texts are often hidden from students. All of the prereading and research that goes on during a teacher's planning time gives the appearance that the in-depth analysis magically formed in our heads. In response to my reading difficulty, my son said, "I thought that you knew how to read everything." Generally, students have the same misconception about teachers and text comprehension. Researcher Jeffrey Wilhelm encourages teachers to share and articulate the secrets related to comprehending text. Make the thinking that takes place while reading a difficult text visible for students. Show and articulate the strategies that you use for comprehension, making explicit connections to how students can apply those strategies to their own reading.

Build familiarity with the content and format of the assessment in novel ways
Using practice tests will familiarize boys with the format but does little to engage them in the process. Have boys (and girls) work in small groups to examine specific test items.

Try some of the following small-group tasks:

Ask students to work cooperatively to deconstruct and analyze open-ended and constructed-response questions. Students can identify the content demands of the question, describe the ways in which they are asked to demonstrate knowledge, and propose strategies for responding to the question. As various groups share their analyses, record the information and post it in the classroom. Over time, students begin to see that the demands vary from item to item and learn strategies to approach questions with more confidence.

Allow students to review responses to items submitted by other test takers. Data for the constructed-response items for the NAEP reading test (available on the ORC website) include answers written by students. The samples provided range from responses that received full credit to those that were awarded no credit. By using anonymous answers, students may critique without fearing that their comments may offend others or that their work may become the focus of the exercise. Students can use a rubric to evaluate the answers and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Ask students to provide "better answers" by revising a poorly written response to develop a more complete answer. Working together, pairs or small groups of students can rewrite answers and talk about the process they used to craft the answers.

Guide students in reading various types of texts, and then allow pairs of students or small groups to lead discussions for subsequent lessons. Groups can select texts and compose questions based on pre-established guidelines and samples of real assessment items. Provide students with some parameters to encourage them to think differently about texts. They may choose to use songs to explore figurative language or theme, examine persuasive texts produced by various advocacy groups, review ads or public-service announcements, and present magazine articles related to their interests.

Improving the reading achievement of adolescent boys begins with motivation. For some boys the path to reading engagement will be very difficult, requiring many hours of intense and intentional instruction. Connecting that hard work to the real lives and real interests of boys will make the journey more enjoyable and well worth the effort.

*If you too need some help understanding the ESPN Magazine passage, let me relate what I learned from my son. "O.G." stands for "original gangster," which in this case has been repurposed to acknowledge Condeleeza Rice's accomplishments as the first black woman to serve in senior-level government positions. "Crazy hops" refers to the ability to jump well, an important skill for basketball players. In the final exchange, The Game suggests that he could get his start in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, a team that has a reputation for poor performance. Given the difficulty of being signed by an NBA team, it is not uncommon for developing players to start with a weak team to improve their games. So The Game asks, "You know who's got space? The Clippers." The response―"Shaun Livingston's sick and Cat plays your 2"―should be read this way: The LA Clippers are a good team because Shaun Livingston is "sick," meaning he's an awesome player, and Cuttino "Cat" Mobley, another great player, plays the "2," or shooting guard position. The final quip about the Lakers is classic irony intended to point out the Lakers' fall from dominance in the NBA. Once a championship-winning powerhouse team, the Lakers are now rebuilding and may have space for a rapper turned basketball player.

References

Brozo, William G. (2002). To be a boy, to be a reader: Engaging teen and preteen boys in active literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Maloney, J. (2002). Boys and books: Building a culture of books around boys (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: ABC Books.

Ohio Department of Education. (2005). Ohio Graduation Tests summary of state performance in reading: Public schools.

Pirie, Bruce. (2002). Teenage boys and high school English. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Smith, Michael W., and Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (2006). Going with the flow: How to engage boys (and girls) in their literacy learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Nicole Luthy is the Reading Content Specialist for the Ohio Resource Center, where she coordinates the selection of high-quality, web-based resources for language arts educators. A former classroom teacher, she also has experience in staff development and curriculum and assessment. Luthy, the Project Director for AdLIT, is this issue's guest columnist for "A Look at the OGT." She can be contacted at nluthy@ohiorc.org.

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