One of the legacies of the Women’s Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the concerted effort to make sure that the education that girls received was just as good as that received by boys, academically and socially. Many authors note that as a result of this targeted campaign to elevate the skills and accomplishments of girls, in the last 10-15 years, evidence is starting to show that in many respects, girls are outperforming boys academically.

In fact, many scholars argue that the tables have turned so much in favor of girls, that we are now seeing a crisis among boys who now the ones in danger of falling dangerously behind girls academically. But is this “boys crisis” really valid? That’s the question at the heart of a new article in Time Magazine. The author actually argues that in many respects, boys are still excelling academically and that the “boys crisis” is exaggerated:

Intrigued by the wave of books and articles about failing boys, [researcher Sara] Mead crunched some numbers, focusing narrowly on the question of school performance. The former Clinton Administration official concluded that “with a few exceptions, American boys are scoring higher and achieving more than they ever have before.” . . .

In particular, Mead decided that boys from middle- and upper-income families--especially white families--are doing just fine. “The biggest issue is not a gender gap. It is these gaps for minority and disadvantaged boys,” she told me recently in the think tank’s conference room. Boys overall are holding their own or even improving on standardized tests, she said; they’re just not improving as quickly as girls. And their total numbers in college are rising, albeit not as sharply as the numbers of girls.

The article goes on to note that one of the reasons why both boys and girls are performing well academically is that over time, their parents are now spending more time focused on their children and their children’s activities than ever. That close, personal interaction between parents and their children has apparently paid dividends in terms of higher academic performance and declining rates of dropping out of school, criminal activity, teen pregnancies, and drug and alcohol use.

Therefore, it looks like the picture is relatively bright, at least for most boys and girls. However, as I’ve written about before, there are still many indicators that while American students are doing well, the quality of their education in relation to the rest of the world is starting to slip. This development is especially troubling as American competitiveness is increasingly being challenged by upstart economies and societies around the world.

So what we seem to have here are glasses that are both half full and half empty. American students of both genders are doing well within the American educational system, but the American educational system itself is in need of some improvement. Therefore, that’s where our challenge lies, as educators and as Americans -- to focus not so much on gender differentials, but to improve the quality of our educational system for everyone.