College gender gap widens: 57% are women

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Maine's Department of Education, for example, created a task force to look closely at boys' poor academic performance and found a ratio of 154 women for every 100 men in the state's colleges and universities in 2000, the greatest gap of any state. But the final report, to be released this fall, will recommend strategies to promote gender-equitable education.

"We very quickly decided ... we wanted to make sure we did not neglect" girls even while exploring obstacles facing boys, says deputy commissioner Patrick Phillips.

The University of Washington recently started a college-prep program for boys, but administrator Thomas J. Calhoun Jr. notes the university also supports girls-only programs, including one aimed at increasing women in engineering.

And though President Bush in his State of the Union address singled out boys when he unveiled a$150 million initiative, led by Laura Bush, to dissuade kids from joining gangs, a conference hosted by the first lady Oct. 27 is called "Helping America's Youth."

Federal laws pose additional challenges. Under No Child Left Behind, for example, schools must track data by race and gender, which helps educators pinpoint vulnerable populations.