Female Supremacy Articles - Page 5

Screen 7 of 14

As for test scores? The pool at Pellston is too small to tell. But local testing administrators say there's little difference between boys and girls on standardized tests like the MEAP.

Girls generally do better in reading and writing, while boys have bested in math and science, "but not at such a high degree of difference that it's a cause for intervention or concern," said Dan Hunsberger, who evaluates Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores for Forest Hills. "There's no solid thing that says the girls are streaming past the boys and we have to watch out."

It also can be cyclical, said Zay Reynolds, head of East Grand Rapids High's guidance department. "Some years you have real strong male leadership," she said.

Rockford High School, for example, had boys as nine of its top 10 seniors and seven of nine National Merit finalists. And it has more girls in varsity sports than boys.

"I don't think I have an answer, unless it's just an aberration," Superintendent Mike Shibler said.

Dominating special ed

Then there's special education -- there's no cycle there. Boys have dominated those ranks for decades.

Many are behind from the first day they set foot in school, and even before. More than 70 percent of the preschoolers receiving services for early childhood development delay in both Kent and Ottawa counties are boys.