According to the LA Times only about half of  all boys expect to work in well-paid professional jobs when they grow up compared to nearly three quarters of girls.  In other words, we’re somehow teaching young boys that either learning is girl’s stuff or that there is  no point in aspiring.  Either way a dumb lesson that does not seem to be a high enough priority among educators, especially at the K – 8 levels.   Compounding the problem is the almost total feminization of school personnel.  Only 16% to 18% of teachers in elementary and middle school are male.  Therefore, we should be helping teachers learn how best to engage and motivate boys based on their gender based learning styles.  For example, boys tend to prefer reading non-fiction over novels.  With this in mind, teachers need to allow more freedom in allowing students to choose their reading material.  After all the main purpose of reading instruction is to derive meaning from the written word.  The particular reading material to achieve that should not be that important.  Another example is hands on projects.  In general boys are more motivated when the learning experience involves hands on activities.  Again teachers should be planning their instructional activities to take gender differences into account.   The adage, ” the equal treatment of unequals is inherently unequal” certainly reinforces the need for educators to include gender based strategies in planning educational activities.