If the following suggestion were carried out it would surely not cure all the problems of American education. But it might be a big step in the right direction. And it could be done by any parent of a male preschooler. No new programs, taxes, mandates, or anything, accept, perhaps, more personal resources spent on day care or home care. It was presented to me one morning in our teachers' lounge by my friend Mark, a highly-respected Fifth Grade teacher with about 25 years experience (and two successfully-grown sons). It is supported by my own experience as a Middle and High School teacher, and all kinds of documentation that I have seen over the years, but cannot cite. To Wit:
A great many, but not all, boys should be held back from entering school for an additional year.
Boys (from here on, "boys" is intended to mean "most boys". Maybe not your boy) are not ready for school at the age that kids are traditionally sent to school, and they do not catch up by the end of high school. This gets them into all kinds of trouble, and we all pay for it.
-Boys get into trouble more often in school.
-Boys get referred to special ed more often.
-Boys get medicated for hyperactivity more often.
-Boys (I'm pretty sure, especially since they don't get pregnant, but not enitrely sure since they do get girls pregnant) drop out of school more often.
-Partly because they drop out of school, boys commit far more crimes than girls do. Then they get arrested, go to jail, and have their lives ruined far more often then girls do (though they take many a girl down with them, as we all know).
-Boys no longer do as well in school as girls do, and as a result, go to college less often these days. I think they are also attending law and medical schools less often.
(Anecdote: This past weekend, spouse and I were at Parent's Weekend at our daughter's mildly-selective [30% of applicant's accepted] state college. We happened to be sitting next to their recuititment V.P., and asked why 2/3 of entering class were girls. He told me research was depressingly absent, but it seemed to be that many boys were just not mature enough to be competitive. "Senior girls are largely interested in getting good grades. Boys are still largely interested in being cool." He added that about 1/3 of boys in one of the few studies extant went to college right away, about a 1/3 went eventually, and 1/3 they lost track of. In other words, many boys were simply not mature enough for college at H.S. grad time. Our daughter then chimed in with a list of her male classmates who, she said, were about as smart as she , but lacked the maturity to settle down and work to get in more comptetive schools.
So, Mark thinks, and I agree, that parents of pre-school boys should seriously consider holding them back for a year to allow them time to grow, mature, and prepare for the rigors of school.
Lots, and, lots, and lots, of kids, mostly boys, I think, get held back eventually anyway because they can't pass the high-stakes testing. It might at least save some heartache if the holding back occurred at a time when it wouldn't matter to much to the kid.
-Obviously, a boy who is bouncing off the walls in his desire to go to school should be allowed to do so.
-Only public educational questions I can think of are:
1. Need for more research on the issue.
2. Need for sufficient resources for additonal preschool/child care.
You get the idea. Sorry I can't cite research or do links. I tried for 30 minutes, then gave up. Some boys never learn what they need to.