Figure 1.--The education of girls since the 1970s has received a great deal of attention. Educators are increasingly realizing, however, that the educational needs of many boys are not being met at today's schools. |
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A great deal of attention has been given by modern educators to raising the self esteem of girls and improving their performance at school. New Zealand secondary schools were at first mostly single-gebder schools. Since World War II, new schools have been created as coeducational institutiions. Many older schools remain as single-gender schools providing options to parents. There are also coeducational and single-gender private schools. Assessments vary as the academic and social impact of single-gender and coeducational schooling on both boys and girls. An assessment of academic achievement, however, shows that it is the boys that are encountering difficulty at school and the resulting underachievement is painfully obvious. This is not exclusively a New Zealand problem, but is a serious problem that New Zealand educators must confront.
New Zealand state primary and most middle schools are coeducatiinal Some private primary (many of which are preparatory schools) are single gender, but all state primary schools are coeducational. This constitutes the great oroprtion of all New Zealand students. New Zealand secondary schools were at first mostly single-gebder schools. Since World War II, new schools have been created as coeducational institutiions. Many older schools remain as single-gender schools providing options to parents. Often the students complain about this. Students are often hesitant to openly express a preference for single-gender education. At serious moments, however, many of the students are likely to see the single-gender approach as offering some advantages. There are also coeducational and single-gender private schools. Assessments vary as the academic and social impact of single-gender and coeducational schooling on both boys and girls.
Form 7 is the final year of secondary education in New Zealand. Most secondary pupils who continue to the 7th Form are pupils planning to go on for university education or other tertiary studies. Retention to the 7th Form is thus a key indicator of the success of the system in dealing weith academically capable pupils. The New Zealand system is like the British system, students can leave at different times. Their qualifications are based on exams set at the grades achieved on those examinations. There is no formal graduation for all students at the end of a senior year as in the United States. Retention to the 7th Form, however, is critical in the modern economies. The good paying jobs available in the New Zealand economy increasingly require some kind of universitybor tertiary training. Many of the pupils that do not continue their education to the 7th Form are going to have difficulty obtaining good paying jobs in the modern economy.
Until relatively recently only a small portion of New Zealand secondary pupils continued there education to the 7th form in preparation for university studies. Before World War II (1939-45), the proportion was very small and consists primarily of boys from affluent families. Considerable progress was made after the War in expanding access to education to New Zealanders of a wider social background. As late as 1975, however, only about a 10-15 percent of New Zealand secondary pupils were continuing their education on to the 7th form (table 1). Major improvements were reported by 1990. MOE data shows that since the 1970s there has been a steady increase in the proportion of pupils continuing their education to the 7th Form. The MOE reported in 1990 that about 35 percent of New Zealand students were continuing their education to the 7th Form. This trend exceeded 50 percent in 1993 (table 1).
Education in New Zealand had a historic male bias. Boys were much more likely to received a secondary and university education. This bias continued well after the War. Over 60 percent of the 7th Formers as late as 1975 were still boys. Boys and girls did not reach approximate parity until the 1980s. This dichtomy was the subject of considerable discussion among educators and in the popular media. As part of the Women's Movement of the 1970s, feminists expressed great concern about the problems faced in schools. The issue was raised as amajor concern among feminists in the United Statesm but the discussion reached New Zealand as well.
MOE data shows that problems associated with girls' schievement in schools have been effectively addressed. Girls have clearly made enormous profress and more than half are now continuing their education through the 7th Form. The MOE reports, "A closer examination of the growth in retention to form7 shows that it is female students who have made the greater gainsin senior school participation, to the point where they outstaytheir male counterparts. Historically, women have been under-representedin the senior school, but changing attitudes towards women andtheir role in society and the labour force have seen female retentionrates to form 7 increase almost five-fold since 1975."
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Both boys and girls have made striking progress. Girls have, however, made substantailly more progress than boys. Data for 1995 shows that well over half of girls were continuong to the 7th form, but less than 45 percent of boys. The data now suggests that boys are encounterting difficulty in school. More ominously, the proportion of boys has actually declined since 1993 when the proprtion approached 50 percent.
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While the difficulty that boys are having in school are perhaps most apparent in the 7th Form, that is only the outcome after 12 years of education. Difficulties are apparent well before the 7th Form. Significant differences are not only noted in the level of education achieved as well as the acafemic achievement at various levels of education. Defficency in reading and writing skills are especially notable.
Staying on to the 5th Form has in New Zealand been traditionally seen as achieving a basic secondary education. Substanial numbers of pupils leave school after the 5th Form without pursuing tertiary training. New Zealand schools have made considerable progress at retaining pupils to the 5th Form. Few New Zealand students now leave school before reaching the 5th Form. More than 95 percent of New Zealand pupils by 1992 were continuing their education to the 5th Form (table 2). Despite this progress, it is clear that New Zealand schools are having more difficulty retaining boys than girls into the 5th Form. Consistently over the years 3-4 percent fewer boys than girls stay to the 5th Form (table 2). While the number of boys staying to the 5th Form has increased overall, little progress has been made in reducing this difference between boys and girls. Like the 7th Form, the 5th Form is a critical time. Youngsters that do not continue their education to the 7th Form are going to have difficultirs. Those that do not at least stay through the 5th Form are not going to qualify for a wide range of job oppotunities and will be in fact educationally handdicapped for their entire woking lives.
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MOE data shows that This shows that although more boys than girls in New Zealand begin the first year of secondary school (Form 3) in 1993, fewer of the boys were candidates for School Certificate 2 years later (table 3). About 4,000 boys or about 15 percent of those beginning secondary school fail to become candidates for their school certificates. Only about 10 percentbof the girls fail to become candidates. Clearly nothing was prevented the achievement of boys in elementary dchool, but a subtantial number of boys failed to perform well in New Zealand secondary schools. The differences between elementary school are affecting boys and girls differently.
Subjects
Comparing the results of the school cerificate examinations there is a striking difference between the results achieved between boys and girls. Many observers report that boys perform better in mathematics and science, but the results noted between boys and girls on those subjects is very small (table 4). The results are in fact small enough to be stistically insignificant. While there was little difference in mathematics and language, there were very substantial differences in English language, verbal comprehension and writing skills. In fact nearly twice as many girls as boys achieved A or B grades on their school certificates in language. This is a striking difference. It is especially doscouraging as language skills are such an important skill and the lack of skills in this basic area will impair future academic performance. It certainly will affect decisions to pursue 7th Form and tertiary studies and performance at those levels.
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Size of School
The size of the school had little difference in how boys and girls performed. Boys performed similarly at schools with just the senior forms and geneally smaller composite schools with younger children (table 5). Girls also exhibited little differences in the different sizes of schools. Notably there was, however, a substanntial difference in the achievement of boys in comparison to girls at all diffeent sizes of schools.
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Types of schools
The school certificate results were significantly affected by the type of school attended. The MOE reports "Some variation in School Certificate results was evidentbetween different school types .... This is, in part, a reflection of the differing background characteristics of students catered for at these schools. Both male and female candidates attending composite schools (table 5), independent schools (table 6), and single-sex schools (table 7) were more likely to score an A or B than candidates from other types of schools." Interestingly boys at integrated schools performed only slightly better than the non-integrated schools (table 6). The integrated state schools are primarily the Catholic schools that were integrated into the state system in the 1980s. Boys at private schools and in all-boys schools did better than boys in coeducatiobnal results. Performance at private schools was strikingly superior to those reported at state schools, both integrated and non-integrated schools. The reason for the differences in performance is difficult to assess and as the MOE suggests is affected by the differeing backgrounds of the students. Children attending private schools come from more affluent families that are likely to place greater value on education and provide more support children.
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What is even more significant from the MOE data is that boys from at the different types of schools mentioned, including private schools, did less well than girls. Boys at all types of state schools did less well as boys at all-boy schools did less well than girls at all girl schools. Even in private (independent schools) boys perform less well than girls (table 6). This is especially discouraging as these schools are usually able to provide more support and individual attention to pupils.
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Despite the very significant evidence that boys are not performing up to their potential in secondary schools, there has not been a great deal of concern among MOE officials. There has been nothing like the outcry that occurred in the 1970s over the lack of achievement by girls in secondary schools. While the MOE is proud of the progress in the achievement of girls, there appears to be major alarm over the problems boys are encountering in school and the lack of accademic success of many boys.
The Ministry's only comment on these figures is most illuminating.
" (p.57)
It is not thought worthy of comment that boys did universallyworse.
Results for NZ University Bursaries/Entrance Scholarship Examinationsin 1995 show that boys had narrowed the achievement gap so thatthere was no significant overall gender difference for the percentageattaining a B grade or higher. However, of the 26 subjects onoffer that were sat by both sexes, a higher percentage of boyswere awarded an F (the lowest grade) in fully 24 out of those26 (cf. Table A19, p. 25. Statistical Annex).
In addition, proportionately more girls are leaving school witha higher attainment, and conversely, more boys are leaving withonly School Certificate or no formal qualification, as shown below:
HIGHEST ATTAINMENT 1995 SCHOOL LEAVERS BY GENDER (%)
……….……….……….……….……….MALE……….FEMALE
# Includes Univ. Bursary, Entrance Qualification, or Higher S.C.
* One or more subjects irrespective of grade awarded
(from Table 43, p.60)
(Note: None of the conclusions from all the above data are significantlyaffected by ethnic factors)
Sources: New Zealand Schools 1995. A Report on the Compulsory Schools Sector in New Zealand; and Statistical Annex.(Ministry of Education. Wellington. 1996)
Commenting on the MOE data, a school newspaper reporter filed this story: ERO report identifies boys struggle at school.
Boys are doing poorly at school. It is now a fact. The Education Review Office has been doing research into males achievement in high schools and has found out that males are struggling in their results compared with their high school female counterparts. The results show that in co-educational schools male students are well below females also at the school. At separate boys and girls schools they both seem to be achiving higher results but the females are still well ahead.
After talking to Mr Syms about the findings he stated that Boys’ High’s results are at least 10% higher than those shown in the findings, and that the results are taken from the whole country and
are only an average. When asked about why he believed boys in other schools are struggling Mr Syms had a few ideas. One is that boys have fallen into the trap of thinking that they can easily get a job. Once upon a time if you were the member of a first eleven or fifteen you could gain a job once you left school because that was just the way society saw it but now no one could care what team you played in at school, you need qualifications. Overall though Boys’ High has been well above the national average for School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary for many years.
Jamie Lynch, Off the Record, Palmersons North Boys High School, September 27, 1999
