Pinellas schools make reading push for boys

The district’s “book battle” is part of a statewide effort to address the gender gap in literacy.

Largo, FL - January 31, 2022

LARGO, FL— Amaree Burr-Comer didn’t always pay attention to the books he was reading.

“I would just read it to be done,” the McMullen-Booth Elementary School fifth grader recalled.

That was before he got involved in the Pinellas County school district’s Boys Read Book Battle two years ago. Created as part of a larger strategy to overcome a literacy achievement gender gap, the battle exposes boys to new materials and teaches them in a competitive environment how to read for meaning and retention.

Amaree, who’s on the team again this year, along with his younger brother and three other schoolmates, said the activity changed his entire approach —

A question is displayed on a monitor for students to answer during the Pinellas County school district’s book battle.

“When I started Battle of the Books I got the gist of going back in the books, memorizing the books, reading the books very carefully,” he said. “It does carry on.”

‘The data don’t lie’

Amaree’s growth is the outcome that educators in Pinellas and across Florida are aiming for as they place added attention on the learning disparities between boys and girls when it comes to reading.

“The data don’t lie,” said Stacy Baier, chief executive officer of the Pinellas Education Foundation, which has highlighted the gap and underwritten much of the effort to address it. “We have to do something about this.”

State data shows that third grade boys underperformed girls on 2018-19 statewide language arts exams by 4 points. That same year, 10th grade boys lagged behind girls in proficiency by 11 points. The district had similar scores.

Citing such results, lawmakers established a Task Force on Closing the Achievement Gap for Boys. Baier and Pinellas school superintendent Mike Grego served on the panel, which issued a series of findings and recommendations in December.

Key to the proposals was the notion that schools must develop strategies to overcome the gap after researching effective models. Training teachers will be critical, the committee stated, with an eye to helping boys advance but never leaving girls behind.

“When schools, like that observed in Pinellas County, support teachers and leaders to integrate gender-specific instructional strategies into their learning environment, students of both genders will respond positively with better behavior, academic engagement and achievement,” the committee wrote in its report.

The key is student engagement

The Pinellas model, which has attracted attention from other districts since the report’s release, focuses heavily on student engagement, said Ellen Truskowski, the district’s student assignment director, who coordinates the initiative.

Some of the ideas include focusing on boys’ competitive nature, their need to move around rather than sit through lectures, and their interest in new and different types of materials. Novelty and stimulus matter, Truskowski said.

Examples have included a science-based boys book club called Mad Scientists and Lab Rats, expanded classroom libraries, celebrations for accomplishing goals and alternatives to desks and chairs. Pinellas developed a one-page “gender gap implementation rubric” to detail ways to better reach boys, including reasons behind each concept.

For instance, the district recommended teachers do more to ensure the boys are aware they’re being held accountable for their work at all times, requiring they participate equally with girls.

“Boys should feel that the teacher is invested in their lives and believes in their potential to succeed,” the document states.

It also suggested making lessons more game-like, and said a best practice is to have multiple opportunities for hands-on activities that reflect students’ interests. The idea, Truskowski said, is to individualize instruction as much as possible, using gender as a lens, in addition to all the other groupings.

After starting with elementary schools, Baier said, the next steps include added training for teachers in higher grade levels.

Targeting reluctant readers

One of the students’ favorite activities is the Boys Read Book Battle, which is in its third year. Eleven elementary schools participated this year, with the team from Mildred Helms Elementary taking top honors.

McMullen-Booth reading teacher Kathy Bilello said it targets reluctant boy readers, who often choose lower-level books because they’re more fun, even though they should and could be selecting more challenging material.

Often, boys will abandon books rather than finish them, principal Stephanie Whitaker added. And they also hesitate to share their thoughts about materials in class, she said.

The competitive aspect sparks interest, Bilello said, as the boys delve into the books to prove they can do better than their friends. Once preparation for the event began this year, Whitaker said, data showed the school’s achievement gender gap in reading shrank by 9 points, as more boys would automatically go back to a text to justify answers.

A growing number of boys have started receiving fifth grade awards, she said. And discipline referrals have declined.

Boys on McMullen-Booth’s battle team — the Vamp Wolves, named after the “coolest” character from the six battle books — gathered early mornings to practice. Sitting as partners, they worked to be the quickest to answer questions about the title and justify their rationale.

Afterward, they talked about how the activity made a difference in their reading habits.

“When you get in a reading zone, you just want to keep reading and reading,” said third grader Abram Burr-Comer, Amaree’s brother. “When we read the book, we get the whole book in your head.”

He added that by seeing so many different types of books, he gets ideas about new ways to write.

Third grader Bradan Fitzgerald said he is figuring out how to get through boring books he doesn’t like, by reading slowly and carefully.

Third grader Silas Booth said he’s been good at reading, but also slow. He also read a lot of “easy” books like the Captain Underpants series.

Preparing for the book battle helped him read faster while still comprehending, he said. That’s important, Silas explained, because falling behind means “you have to keep going to catch up with everyone else.” Now that’s less of a concern for him.

Battle on

The boys arrived at the 2022 battle on Friday morning in good spirits. They snacked on Starbursts and Smartfood popcorn in a conference room, flipping through the six titles while awaiting their turn to compete in the School Board meeting room.

Amaree said he was nervous — “My heart goes boom, boom, boom” — but confident. His teammates signaled they felt the same.

After about half an hour, they were up. The six teams took their seats at separate tables, each hoping for a top 2 spot that would get them to the finals.

The path ahead: Answer each question correctly, and try to get bonus points when given the turn to provide evidence for the response. Teams got full points for a correct answer after one try, with the points shrinking for a second and third attempt.

The McMullen-Booth team celebrated its correct responses, and smiled broadly when hearing “Bingo. Good job,” after nailing one of its bonuses. But the boys didn’t advance, leading to some disappointment and tears.

Amaree put on a brave face afterward.

“I’m glad that I came,” he said, “because even if I lost, I had fun.”

Even before the event began, Bilello said whatever the outcome, there was no losing.

“They’ve read six books in four months, wonderful children’s literature,” she said. “They’ve won already.”

Contact Jeffrey S. Solochek at jsolochek@tampabay.com. Follow @JeffSolochek.