EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Boys struggling with reading respond better to female teachers, a study by researchers at the University of Alberta found.
The study examined 175 third- and fourth-grade boys who were identified by their teachers as struggling readers. The boys participated in a 10-week reading intervention to determine the effect of the reading teachers’ gender on boys’ reading performance, self-perception as readers and view of reading as a masculine, feminine or gender-neutral activity.
"As competent reading is the strongest predictor of school success, it’s crucial to find ways to engage boys to become stronger readers," University of Alberta professor Herb Katz said in a statement. "Although boys and girls enter kindergarten with similar performance in reading, by the spring of third grade, boys have lower reading scores, which makes this an opportune time for reading intervention."
The study, published in the journal Sex Roles, concluded the drop in the number of male teachers, especially in elementary schools, is not the reason why boys are underachieving in reading, therefore, strategic hiring of male teachers as a way to address boys’ poor reading scores may be naive.
