ORONO – For years, the focus in schools has been on raising the self-esteem and educational prospects of girls.

But a preliminary report of a survey by the National Center for Student Aspirations at the University of Maine says it’s boys who don’t believe they can succeed and who feel disengaged from school.

The difference between the attitudes of boys and girls is reflected in test scores.

A dozen or so years ago, boys were outperforming girls in science and math on the Maine Educational Assessment, while girls were doing better than boys on reading and writing.

During the last 10 years, girls’ scores in math and science have improved “to the point where it’s pretty much closed the gender gap,” but boys are still being outpaced on literacy indicators, Horace Maxcy of the Department of Education said Friday.

“We’ve begun to talk about boys’ issues over the last several years, so people are paying attention to it, but we haven’t yet begun to see the numbers change,” he said.

The survey, completed by 48,000 students in grades six to 12 across the state, has revealed some troubling trends in the aspirations of boys, said Sharon Wilson-Barker, co-director of the National Center for Student Aspirations.

Boys expressed more pessimism about the future and less belief in their ability to be prepared for it. While more than 90 percent of girls said anyone can succeed if they work hard enough, only 84 percent of males said the same thing.

And although 85 percent of girls reported having high goals, only 79 percent of boys echoed that sentiment.

Also, boys were more likely to be bored in school. They said they spent less time reading for pleasure and doing homework, and they were less inclined to want to learn new things.

Boys also were less likely to have positive relationships with their teachers. Fifty-one percent of girls reported their teachers valued their opinions, compared to 45 percent of boys. And 73 percent of girls reported that teachers helped them to succeed, compared to just 68 percent of boys.

In addition, more girls than boys said they needed to go to college to get a good job, and that their parents expected them to succeed and thought it was important for them to go on to higher education.

“It’s very scary. What we’re seeing is a nation of boys at risk, academically, emotionally and socially,” said Wilson-Barker. The surveys also have been sent to schools outside Maine and show similar results, she said.

As the center began analyzing the data, “the gender difference was the first big thing that jumped out at us,” she said. “It was a huge red flag. We were very surprised because our mind-set was still stuck on girls at risk.”

Teachers haven’t been surprised by the results, Wilson-Barker said. “We’ve seen this too, but we weren’t really sure until the data came out,” she said they told her.

The push to understand the reasons for the gender gap and what to do about it is on “our radar screen,” said Deputy Commissioner of Education Patrick Phillips.

“We know it exists, and it’s imperative for the state to take a leadership role,” he said.

School systems are doing their part, said Phillips. As a former assistant superintendent in the Camden area, he said, “we spent a great deal of time looking at the MEAs and examining the gender differences in the scores and classroom practices.”

The continuing disparity isn’t for lack of trying, said Bangor Superintendent Robert Ervin. “While we’ve done different kinds of things to make girls interested in math, I don’t think we’ve been any less active trying to develop reading and writing skills with boys,” he said.

Donna Lisnik, principal at Easton Junior-Senior High School, said she taught a girls-only algebra class at Presque Isle High School years ago that was created in response to their lower MEA scores.

The attention paid to girls was because it was “early in the technological age when we really wanted people to be fully skilled in math and science,” she said.

Girls’ MEA scores improved, according to Lisnik. “It raised an awareness in the whole school that boys and girls learn differently,” she said.

The surveys have been distributed to schools over a period of three years. Schools are still requesting them, and the database is continually being updated, Wilson-Barker said. It will be offered again in 2009 to see whether new programs have made a difference.

“We’ve been focusing so hard on getting girls up to speed that we’ve forgotten to look at our sons. We just assumed they were all right, and they’re not,” she said.