Boys' and Girls' Status Seen as Almost Equal.

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Author: Samuels, Christina A.Cavanagh, SeanHonawar, Vaishau

American boys and girls today are faring almost equally well across key indicators of education, health, safety, and risky behavior, concludes a Duke University study.

In addition, the overall quality of life for both boys and girls improved substantially from 1985 through 2001, the study found.

Duke researchers developed an Index of Child Well-Being" to assess trends in quality of life for children and young people over the 17-year study period. The index covers seven broad areas: economic status, social relationships, health/safety, educational achievement, community participation, and emotional/spiritual well-being. In education, however, significant differences remain, according to the study. For instance, girls tend to do better than boys on reading tests, but boys generally score better on math tests.

"Assessing Gilligan vs. Sommers: Gender-Specific Trends in Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1985-2001" was published in the January issue of the journal Social Indicators Research. The journal's Web site is at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/soci.

College Preparation: Schools that serve a high percentage of minority and low-income students have succeeded in preparing students for college through a combination of rigorous courses, flexible and experienced teachers, and readily available extra help for students who need it, a report concludes.

The report was released last month by ACT Inc., the Iowa City, Iowa-based testing service best known for its college-entrance exam, and the Education Trust, a Washington-based organization that focuses on improving achievement among disadvantaged students. It examines the strategies used to help students in 10 high-performing high schools, nine of which serve a high percentage of students from minority or low-income backgrounds.

"On Course for Success" is online at www.act.org.

U.S. Dropout Rate: One-third of the students who enter high schools in the United States drop out before they graduate, and the country now ranks only 10th in the world among economically advanced countries in its high school completion rate, concludes a report from the Princeton, N.J.-based Educational Testing Service.

The report says that the situation has gotten worse over the past decade, and that not much has been done at the federal level to improve it. For instance, federal aid for second-chance programs that help dropouts return to education and training fell from $15 billion in current dollars in the late 1970s to $3 billion today, it says.

"One-Third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities" is online at www.ets.org.

edweek.org:

Links to these reports are online www.edweek.org/links.

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By Christina A. Samuels; Sean Cavanagh and Vaishau Honawar