Helping Boys Succeed in School: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers

Many parents and educators today are worried about the education of smart girls, especially in areas like math and science, but what about their male counterparts? According to a U.S. Census Bureau report (2004), 12% of boys drop out of high school, compared to 9% of girls. In addition, the current trend sees more girls enrolling in college than boys. Boys need to be given the tools they need to succeed in school, including strategies for channeling their interests, keeping them actively engaged, increasing their participation in humanities classes like language arts, and dealing with the unique social and emotional problems they face in school. The authors, national education leaders, combine field-tested strategies and advice with case studies of boys across the nation to give smart young boys and their parents a strong guide for ensuring boys' success in school and the future.

Educational Resource

Read an Interview With the Authors of Helping Boys Succeed in School

Terry W. Neu, Ph.D., and Rich Weinfeld know firsthand that boys need special attention, accommodations, and advocacy in order to succeed in school. In this interview, the authors, leading education experts, explain why the education of boys cannot be ignored and offer insight how parents and teachers can help.

Terry W. Neu received his Ph.D. from the Talent Development Program at the University of Connecticut and currently serves on the faculty of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Neu also currently serves as Vice President of the Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students (AEGUS). He has done extensive work with gifted students with disabilities, modifying the classroom environment for these students, as well as developing a challenging dually differentiated curriculum to meet their unique needs. Neu also has consulted nationally and internationally on teaching strategies for gifted students with disabilities and emotional or behavioral disorders, and how to differentiate instruction. He has also written several articles and chapters on these topics. Neu has also worked with several of the Jacob K. Javits educational research grants, including Project HIGH HOPES.

Rich Weinfeld is a national leader in the education of gifted children with learning difficulties. Weinfeld was instrumental in coordinating the Montgomery County, MD, gifted and learning-disabled program and is currently an educational advocate in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

National education leaders, Rich Weinfeld and Terry Neu, Ph.D., know firsthand that boys need special attention, accommodations, and advocacy in order to succeed in school. The authors delve into the causes and solutions to the problems boys face in school. Weinfeld was instrumental in coordinating the Montgomery County, MD, gifted and learning disabled program, which served many boys who were failing in their previous school experiences and provided these boys with the tools and confidence they needed to succeed. Neu, who currently serves as an assistant professor of education at Sacred Heart University, previously served as the coordinator of Project High Hopes, which pairs students with learning disabilities with mentors. Both authors are the fathers, coaches, and teachers of boys.