The power of the teacher's time and attention means that boys reap the benefits of a more intense educational climate. While the idea that boys outperform girls in math and science is widespread, the increased national attention being paid to females in these subjects is paying dividends. These enrollment gains were seen in honors as well as advanced placement courses. Girls are now more likely than boys to take biology and chemistry courses, while physics is still a male domain. Boys, however, are more likely to have taken all three core science courses-physics, chemistry, and biology.
Tests continue to reflect a gender gap, particularly high stakes tests like the SATs.
Although the gap has shrunk in recent years, males continue to outscore females on both the math and verbal section of the SATs. Although more girls than boys take AP exams in all courses except math, science and computers, boys earn higher AP scores and are more likely to receive college credit. Certainly one of the greatest changes in recent years is the technology explosion, with the majority of America's schools now connected to the Internet. But boys are more wired into this revolution than girls. Boys enter school with more computer experience than girls, and girls know it.