Thematic report |
Closing the gap between boys' and girls' attainment in schools - March 2008
Fewer boys than girls acquire the level of literacy necessary to succeed. This is especially the case in writing, and to a lesser extent reading. Because more boys have trouble with literacy than girls, they also have problems in accessing the wider curriculum.Negative peer pressure is greater for boys than for girls, which can create a conflict between their engagement in learning and relationships with their peers. A minority of schools have been successful in developing specific strategies that have raised boys’ attainment. These strategies often involve refining approaches to learning and teaching by challenging stereotypical perceptions and making changes to the curriculum.
Recommendations
Schools should:
- devise a coherent whole-school policy for raising boys’ attainment;
- focus on improving boys’ literacy; and
- find ways to meet pupils’ individual learning needs through tracking their progress and targeting support where it is most needed.
Local authorities should:
- give high priority to literacy programmes that improve boys’ literacy skills;
- ensure schools set targets for raising boys’ attainment; and
- provide schools with performance data on the relative attainment of boys and girls compared with national and benchmarked norms.
The Welsh Assembly Government should:
- develop a national strategy for raising boys’ attainment; and
- commission research into why teacher assessment tends to favour girls more than external tests and examinations.