Schools' programs teach skills early: Utah boys lag behind girls in reading

KEARNS — The second-grade class at West Kearns Elementary School is buzzing with the low hum of young voices repeating sounds and words.

"We're going to work on our 'ew' sounds today," reading specialist Amy Lawrence tells the group of students sitting on tiny chairs in a half-circle around a table. "Chew, stew, dew," she and the kids recite.

The Reading First program is one of myriad ways educators around the state are working to get students on grade level with their reading skills. However, while the programs push the same skills and learning for both boys and girls, Utah boys still lag behind girls in reading. In fact, according to testing data from 2003 and 2007, roughly 10 percent more girls in Utah read above grade level than boys do.

It's a statewide trend that follows national data showing boys trail girls in reading skills in every state.

"Boys have always lagged behind in reading ever since we began measuring reading," said Reed Spencer, coordinator of elementary language arts with the State Office of Education. Spencer said he can't remember a time when data have shown otherwise.

There are various theories as to why boys struggle in reading more so than girls. Some of the ideas include girls being genetically programmed differently to rise in verbal skills. However, there are no solid answers as to why boys are slumping in reading skills.

Data from the end-of-level Criterion Referenced Test, used for requirements of the federal mandate No Child Left Behind, don't differentiate scores by gender.

However, the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, which are given in Utah every other year to fourth- and eighth-grade students, do break down test results so skills of boys and girls can be compared.

According to NAEP results, 62 percent of fourth-grade boys were at or above grade level in 2003, rising to 64 percent in 2007, the last year for which data is available. Seventy percent of fourth-grade girls were at or above grade level in 2003 and rose to 73 percent in 2007.

Seventy-two percent of eighth-grade boys scored at or above grade level in 2003, and that number dipped to 71 percent in 2007. And 81 percent of girls were at or above grade level in 2003, which dipped to 79 percent in 2007, according to NAEP.

State education leaders don't have specific programs targeting boys but instead encompass boys and girls in programs such as Reading First, which concentrates on teaching solid reading skills at a young age.