Peg TyreCritiques

Adult nonfiction; education/social issues. Peg Tyre builds on the work of Leonard Sax but fails to add much new apart from some perspective on why people have trouble acknowledging that boys are in fact at a disadvantage in today's educational institutions (it has a lot to do with not wanting to take attention or support away from the feminist movement). Her research is also somewhat spotty and not thoroughly convincing; however, teachers and parents of boys who struggle in school will be well advised to read this as well as Sax's Boys Adrift and Why Gender Matters.

It's hard to give this book any stars because the thesis goes against most of what I believe is going on in our schools. I plan to unpack my thoughts on my blog once I have a chance to fully digest this monument to boys' weaknesses.

Peg Tyre provides a sobering look at how the modern school system is failing boys. Boys nationwide, across all lines of wealth and poverty are straggling behind girls. Boys are less motivated, less inclined to participate in school activities. This goes from homework to extracurriculars (not including sports). Since so much effort has been put into supporting and promoting female success at school, the success of the boys has fallen by the wayside.

More at http://thenovelworld.com/2014/08/11/the-trouble-with-boys-by-peg-tyre/

From the beginning, I was really annoyed by the tone of Tyre's writing. It seemed like she was really talking down to her readers, saying things like "stay with me while I give you some important facts", etc. as if I couldn't pay attention through anything remotely scientific. But I did think some of her info was pretty interesting. This book draws attention to the ways that current education trends are failing boys. I have a very young son (19 months) and I felt that it was good to have some of these thoughts on the radar. The statistics are really shocking - even middle class, white boys are far behind the girls in their classes and standardized tests in EVERY subject, even science and math, traditionally thought to be "boy" subjects. This starts in pre-school where boys are expelled (you can be expelled from preschool?!!!!) at 4 times the rate of girls and continues through college where now males only make up about 40% of students, even with some "affirmative action" in favor of boys.

This was an interesting, if poorly written book.

This was a very interesting book about the disadvantages of boys in our society and educational system today.

Written by an education reporter, this book covers data and analysis and proposes possible solutions for boys lagging behind in academics.

My wife and I oversaw our children’s public school education in simpler times – no doubt about it. But now, despite the fact that our two daughters have both chosen to teach in the same school district within which they were educated, we worry about the schooling our grandchildren are receiving there. Perhaps, it is precisely because we have so much “inside information” about the school system that we worry so much. Despite what most young parents might think, it is difficult to distinguish a good school from a bad school. That is scary enough, but what should really terrify parents is that bad teachers riddle even the best schools.

Peg Tyre’s The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve explains how parents can recognize good schools and good teachers when they see them. Because today’s schools are evaluated on the results of standardized tests parents seldom understand, there is a good chance that their children are receiving an inadequate education – one that does not prepare them to be successful adults. Simply put, “teaching to the test” means that America’s school children are getting a dumbed-down version of the education they deserve.

The Good School focuses on “seven essential domains of education” that parents need to understand if they are to protect their preschool-to-middle-school-age students. Tyre begins with a chapter on how to choose the right preschool for your child before moving into chapters on testing, class size, reading, mathematics, balance, and teachers. Her precise, and very readable, style makes her a good communicator, but Tyre is so determined that parents get her message that she goes one step farther by ending each segment of the book with a chapter summary list she calls “The Take Aways.”

Much of what Tyre offers is good common sense, something that seems to be not so common these days. For instance, she remarks that a good way to separate good teachers from the “not-so-good” ones is to remember that the good ones “want you to have more information about education not less.” And some of what she has to say touches on concerns that parents might already have about their children, such as her belief that a “poor-quality teacher-child relationship” in preschool or kindergarten can “set the stage for academic and behavioral problems through eighth grade.”

Peg Tyre admits that “perfect schools” do not exist. Thankfully, as she points out, most students do not really need a perfect school – but they do need a good one. Unfortunately, it is more up to parents than ever before to find that good school for their children and, if they cannot find one, it is up to them to figure out how to help create one. The Good School tells you how to get that done.

Rated at: 5.0

If you're a pre-K through high school teacher, this is a must-read. If you're considering becoming a pre-K through high school teacher, read this first. If you're an adjunct professor at the Community College of Denver, this will either convince you to become a crusader, or throw in the plunger and become a plumber. . . .

Someone once said, "There ain't gonna be any middle anymore." That's the attitude all teachers and professors need to take. As an instructor, there's much more at risk than attempting to make a student understand algebra. Our society is at risk, not the memorization of equations.

If you're a parent, you too will benefit greatly from this book. You share every teacher's burden and triumph.

And if that doesn't cue your interest, just watch the South Park episode "Scrotie McBoogerballs." It explains everything. . . .

Absorbing and illuminating, this book is a must read for any parent of boys, and should be required reading for all teachers. Whether or not you believe in gender-specific issues in development and schooling, it is hard to argue that school is set up for non-visual, non-kinesthetic learners, and that these learners -- mainly boys -- suffer under the rules, restrictions, and expectations of their far more often than not well meaning teachers.½

I got the point about 1/3 in and didn't feel the need to continue, yet I did. Presents the issue nicely become becoming redundant.

Peg Tyre has written a remarkable book about a problem that many of us have sensed (but failed to articulate and complain about) for years: our young boys are being shortchanged from the first day that they enter a school building. Not too many years ago the concern in public education was how to prepare girls to grow into women able to compete with their male counterparts in the work world. That was a legitimate concern and, much to the credit of this country, a tremendous, and very successful, effort was made to correct the problem. But as always seems to happen, the pendulum continued to swing their way long after females had achieved educational equality. The momentum created to correct the initial problem was so strong that it eventually placed male students at a disadvantage, a new problem just as serious as the one it corrected.

I have personally observed much of what Peg Tyre describes in "The Trouble with Boys." For what it is worth, I can offer anecdotal evidence of my own that the problem Tyre describes is a serious one. I am the father of two daughters, both elementary school teachers now, and the grandfather of one granddaughter and two grandsons, all of whom are elementary school students. Because I am convinced that learning to read well, and as soon as possible, is the key to anyone’s future, I encouraged my daughters to become readers and have done the same for their children. It is in observation of their children that I first became aware of just how different so many little boys are from little girls when it comes to their early schooling.

According to Tyre, the problem for little boys begins as early as preschool because they are physically and mentally less mature than little girls their age. Boys at this age are less verbal than girls, a deficit that makes it more difficult for them to learn to read, and they have less well developed fine motor skills, making it more difficult for them to control a pencil or a paintbrush. But their biggest problem is the great difficulty they have in sitting still for long periods of time, a tendency that almost guarantees that they will be disciplined at a much higher rate than girls and that they will learn at a slower pace.

The physical disadvantage faced by young boys has become more and more exaggerated in recent years because of the emphasis on starting our children into preschool programs at younger and younger ages. Little boys find themselves labeled early on as troublemakers and poor students by teachers that simply do not recognize or understand the handicaps the boys are facing in the classroom. As a result, boys are almost five times as likely to be expelled from preschool and are twice as likely to be placed under medication for some type of attention deficit disorder.

And, of course, this makes them much more likely to hate school and learning. Too many of them tune out, barely skating by academically and staying in school mainly because of sports programs and the girls they meet there. These boys have subconsciously assimilated the message they received from preschool through elementary school that they are problem students whose behavior and study habits are not appreciated.

And the result is predictable. Boys and girls enter preschool at about the same level but around the fourth grade girls are noticeably pulling ahead of boys academically, a lead they never relinquish. By middle and high school girls make up a substantial majority of top-ranked students and today they outnumber male university students to such a degree that many schools have created a kind of affirmative action plan for boys in order to create some balance in their student enrollments.

In effect, the American education system has been over-feminized by its tendency to reward the behavior more common to girls and to punish that more likely to be shared by young male students. "The Trouble with Boys" offers solutions and possible corrective measures that need to be adopted before another generation of men is doomed to second class status.

As Tyre points out, this country simply cannot afford to write off half of the population if it is to successfully compete in the global economy of the future. Advocates of equality for women may be concerned by any new emphasis on the same for men, fearing that the infamous pendulum will once again swing too far before stopping. But, as Tyre emphasizes, that is not what anyone is proposing or expecting; this is simply a matter of true equality for both sexes, a goal that will benefit all of us.

"The Trouble with Boys" makes a strong case that something must be done quickly in order to correct the biggest problem now facing this country’s school system. It should be read by parents (regardless of whether they have boys or girls), school teachers and administrators, and everyone concerned about the future. It is a good place at which to begin the conversation – read it and pass it on to others before we waste another generation of young men. It is time that we quit treating boys as “defective girls.”

Rated at: 5.0

This book is a MUST for teachers and parents of boys! I run a classroom where (I thought) there was gender equity, but this book helped me look at some of my practices in a whole new light. My own two elementary level sons could be subjects of this book as well!! You've got to read this one.

Pulitzer prize winning author Peg Tyre explores the causes of and possible solutions to the education gap between boys and girls. An important read for mothers of boys and anyone interested in education.

Glass ceilings get discussed a great deal these days and progress over the years for women have been improving. But there is another group that needs attention. It’s a group that doesn’t read up to snuff. They don’t go to college in large enough numbers or graduate. These are the males of the species who, as a group, are not competing as successfully as their female counterparts. Some might say, it’s about time since girls have been put down and subservient for so many generations. However, Tyre surveys the research, the major ideas connected with boys and learning, and makes us think that there are different and unique ways of dealing with gender issues. When we recognize the interesting facets of the problem and how as parents and teachers there are some sound conclusions, we can change our tactics rather than just complain that boys are just not performing up to their potential. This is an important read for a professional learning community and for teacher librarians. Highly recommended. P.S. This does not mean that girls should receive any less attention or a push toward excellence.