Some large school districts are already taking action, including the Rockford public schools. After Pollack's visit, adjustments were made to the entire system, beginning in kindergarten. At Haskell Elementary School in Rockford, for example, teachers use music when they shift to new activities in class, giving pupils, especially the boys, an outlet for their energy. Students are frequently assigned to work in groups or pairs. And in core subjects such as reading or math, some kind of movement is incorporated into the lesson nearly every 10 minutes.
Some educators say such adjustments, although increasingly common, are likely to come slowly.
The idea that boys are more aggressive or learn differently is still something many veteran teachers reject. Lisa Donovan was among the original skeptics. Like many teachers coming out of education programs in the 1980s, Donovan thought of sex differences mainly in terms of neglected girls. It never crossed her mind that boys might need special attention. But after several years in the classroom at the child development center at Ohio University, Donovan was assigned a class in which the majority of students was boys.