The cover story of the latest Newsweek is The Boy Crisis. I've read it twice already this morning because they are definitely talking about our boys. From the article, "He's 16, but he can't stay organized. He finishes his homework and then can't find it in his backpack. " I wish I had more time to elaborate on this but I don't.
I could pull quotes like this out of it "By almost every benchmark, boys across the nation and in every demographic group are falling behind. In elementary school, boys are two times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with learning disabilities and twice as likely to be placed in special-education classes. High-school boys are losing ground to girls on standardized writing tests. The number of boys who said they didn't like school rose 71 percent between 1980 and 2001, according to a University of Michigan study." but it'd be easier if you read it yourself.
I've heard several of our teachers complain about the No Child Left Behind method of education and how it really has way too narrow of a focus. Hopefully as more studies come out showing it's hurting rather than helping, those in charge will change it quickly.