The National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered one of the more reliable measures of academic proficiency. The data imply that males are, on average, at a rather profound disadvantage in the performance of this basic skill. So far, however, only girls are treated as a problem group. There are calls for special math classes for girls, but the idea of special reading and writing classes for boys rarely surfaces. By most reasonable measures, girls are faring better than boys.
Boys get lower grades.
More often than girls, they drop out and are held back. Far more boys than girls suffer from learning disabilities. More boys than girls are involved in crime and with alcohol and drugs. Significantly fewer boys than girls are going on to college. One reason is that for the past five years, prestigious women's organizations and many journalists have actively promoted the idea that our schools are biased against girls.