Female Supremacy Articles - Page 5

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"We have such pressures academically now and so early. We do know that boys develop slower than girls. They catch up, but it may be in kindergarten and first grade," said Mary Polonowski, Rockford student services director.

Early intervention efforts are designed to help.

Parents also shouldn't be afraid to wait a year to send their boy off to kindergarten, said Jan Borowicz, special education director in Coopersville. Many boys in the district's special needs program were early starters -- with late summer or early fall birthdays.

But some say it's more than biology. There's also a bias against boys when it comes to referring students to special education.

"Our criteria in special education tends to look at the issue of classroom behavior and when that's disruptive to the learning process," said Tony Thaxton, student services director in Holland. "It's more socially acceptable for boys to act out ... whereas girls tend to be more internalizers."

As Skip Weatherford, a special education administrator in Grand Rapids, put it: "Girls act in. Boys act out and throw chairs."

Some say the gender gap might simply mean educators don't notice such problems in girls.

While the debate continues, Calvin College gender-studies professor Helen Sterk urges caution in overreacting to the gender gap and penalizing girls in the process.