Boys to men: The Growing….Continuing to Grow…. Problem

By Student Mastery

Approximately 60% of college students are women.  Delighted for the success of women.  But it also confirms the thesis of my book: boys are underachieving at a dizzying rate.  Anecdotally, I noticed the problem in my SAT classes.  I started teaching test prep in Guilford, CT in 2002.  Our classes would fill the big back barn at The Women and Family Life Center or at my colleagues offices at Education Solutions in Essex, CT.  I never noticed a difference in the gender make-up of the class.  Around 2008-2010, we moved our offices to Madison, CT and Old Saybrook, CT.  Something had changed well beyond our office locations.  Girls were now outnumbering boys in our SAT classes.

That wasn’t the real issue.  I had created something called Student Mastery.  Essentially, Student Mastery is a methodology to train students in being good students.  Motivation-Study Skills-Test Taking Skills, along with tutoring in all subjects was – and is – the program that differentiates The Learning Consultants from other tutoring facilities.  I noticed that 90% or higher of the calls that related to motivation related to boys.  Girls had equal struggles in the other areas.  But motivation issues almost exclusively related to boys.

If your boy is struggling in school, I don’t want to alarm you.  But there does seem to be something going on that is profoundly challenging for boys.

We can help.