There are no simple explanations for why girls generally outperform boys in high school. But the New York Times this week highlights planning and time management skills (or a lack thereof) as one culprit. The author writes that "boys seem generally to have more difficulty getting organized and multitasking than girls do," and the article highlights educational experts who focus on organization as a key to improved grades.

At StudyPoint, our take is decidedly gender neutral. We believe boys and girls can benefit from organization, time management and planning skills. In fact, we incorporate all of these principles into our academic tutoring programs. If we identify organizational skills as a deficiency for a student, then we may suggest a variety of remedies from tabbed binder systems to a decluttered study space.

Parents and experts alike have told us that any gap in a child's organizational abilities will likely become more pronounced in the first year of high school as academic demands and presssures increase. To that end, we recently launched a unique middle school to high school TRANSITIONS program that gives 8th and 9th graders a real grounding in the organizational and study skills required for success.

Our success with the program reinforces our view that students benefit from effective planning and organizing.

- Alex Gramling

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