Reading Matters Winter 2019

Addressing Reading Gender Gaps and Combatting Masculinized Curriculum

By Mary-Celeste Schreuder & Julia Kate Bentley, Clemson University

How Have Researchers and Policy Makers Explained the Gap? Although there is some evidence the gap has lessened in recent years, educators remain concerned about boys’ literacy development (Loveless, 2015). Unsurprisingly, educational stakeholders have attempted to identify the source of the reading gender gap in order to institute reforms to close it. Some assert the assessments themselves are to blame as they contain more open response items, which girls tend to perform better on due to the more complex expressive language skills, writing ability, and use of background knowledge required compared to multiple choice questions (Brozo et al., 2014; Schwabe, McElvany, & Trendtel, 2015). When open response items were removed from consideration on PISA, Brozo and colleagues (2014) found there was no gender gap. Regardless of item type, the use of standardized assessments to measure literacy abilities is problematic. These assessments are inauthentic and decontextualized from most students’ home and school lives. Such tests inevitably lead to a deficit view of those whose skills do not match the narrow definition of academic literacy measured in these assessments (Wixson, Valencia, & Lipson, 1994). Voyer and Voyer (2014) found internationally girls receive better grades than boys, regardless of actual ability. As girls tend to be more successful at school literacies, it is unsurprising they outperform boys on tests that measure these skills. Others attempting to explain the gap blame boys for their lack of motivation and interest in reading. Research shows increased motivation to read leads to more time spent reading, which, in turn, leads to increased reading ability (Logan & Johnston, 2009). McGeown, Goodwin, Henderson, andWright (2012) used results from the Motivation to Read Questionnaire to support their claim that girls have much higher levels of intrinsic reading motivation. Girls’ higher scores on measures of intrinsic motivation are influenced by their reading self-concept and the value they place on reading (Boerma, Mol, & Jolles, 2016; Logan & Johnston, 2009; Logan & Medford, 2011). Self-concept is best defined as “a person’s self-perceptions formed through experience with their environment” (Boerma et al., 2016, p. 550). A child’s reading self-concept is built through environmental and cultural experiences during childhood that inevitably includes messages about gender norms in relation to subject ability. Boerma and colleagues (2016) found boys displayed stronger self-concepts in math and girls displayed stronger self-concepts in reading, and this belief appeared to grow with age. While boys and girls often have equal reading self-efficacy, girls place greater value on reading (Marinak & Gambrell, 2010). As Logan and Johnston (2009) assert, the magnitude of the gap has more to do with attitude than actual ability. However, although women continue to have higher motivation to read throughout life, the

Reading Matters Choice Matters

“Young girls are much, much better readers than boys, and have been for a long time” (Klein, 2015). This startling statement was a headline for a 2015 article in The Huffington Post which explained, through empirical evidence, the international phenomenon of girls outperforming boys in reading achievement for the past four decades. Although standardized tests are not new, they have been given increased attention and control over educational decisions in the past two decades. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (2001) in the United States placed greater emphasis on accountability for a standardized curriculum. In a climate where teachers are expected to assure all students regardless of gender, race, culture, or linguistic background have the same academic abilities as measured by national and international assessments, a gender difference in reading ability must be addressed. The gender reading achievement gap is a concern for educators of all grade levels. Kindergarten screening tests show girls have stronger literacy skills than boys before formal schooling begins (Burkam, LoGerfo, Ready, & Lee, 2007). This early achievement gap continues to widen as students progress through the grades (Loveless, 2015). Secondary gender achievement gaps culminate in college readiness exams, such as the ACT where girls continuously outperform boys in the arts/literature subcategory of the reading section (Conrad-Curry, 2011). Additionally, boys are more likely to drop out of high school (Stillwell, 2010), and male college enrollment is declining (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016; OECD, 2002). As the workforce creates new jobs and places increased demands on existing jobs that traditionally did not require advanced literacy skills, the lower levels of educational attainment for males will have significant economic consequences (Conrad-Curry, 2011; Marks, 2008). The stronger performance of girls on literacy assessments is not an exclusively American problem. According to the PIRLS assessment administered in 50 countries by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), 4th grade girls throughout the world are outperforming boys (Loveless, 2015). The achievement gap is twice as large on the PISA, which tests 15-year-olds from 65 countries. On the PISA 2012, all countries had a gap, ranging from 23 to 62 points, with the U.S. demonstrating a 31 point difference (Loveless, 2015). The PISA 2009 also reported girls enjoy reading more, spend more free time reading, and read a greater diversity of texts (Brozo Sulkunen, Shiel, Garbe, Pandian, & Valtin, 2014). Girls Outperform Boys from Kindergarten to High School

Reading Matters | Volume 19 Winter 2019 | scira.org | 7

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS