Girls Write Better Than Boys Do
Girls outperform boys in various standardized reading comprehension exams. Girls likewise score higher in writing tests. This should not be surprising since one's writing ability depends to a certain extent on one's reading ability. Writing can be distilled into two parts: generation of ideas and their subsequent transcription. In other words, there is quality, which can be measured by organization and theme, and productivity, which can be roughly gauged, for instance, by the number of words written.
A recent study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology examines in detail how girls differ from boys in terms of writing skills. Included in this study are about 500 students (grades 2 and 3) from 76 classrooms in 10 schools in a midsized city in the United States. Three writing tests are administered to gauge both writing quality and productivity and the differences found between the two genders is shown in the following figure:
What this study shows is that writing is a very complicated task that involves so many factors. To help a child who is currently struggling in writing, the key challenges among the various indicators need to be identified since each one may require a specific intervention. In addition, since not all the gender differences can be explained by language and cognitive variables, attitude probably counts. Teachers may therefore need to find ways to make writing an activity of interest to boys.
A recent study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology examines in detail how girls differ from boys in terms of writing skills. Included in this study are about 500 students (grades 2 and 3) from 76 classrooms in 10 schools in a midsized city in the United States. Three writing tests are administered to gauge both writing quality and productivity and the differences found between the two genders is shown in the following figure:
What this study shows is that writing is a very complicated task that involves so many factors. To help a child who is currently struggling in writing, the key challenges among the various indicators need to be identified since each one may require a specific intervention. In addition, since not all the gender differences can be explained by language and cognitive variables, attitude probably counts. Teachers may therefore need to find ways to make writing an activity of interest to boys.
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