A summary of government initiatives to raise boys' achievement
A summary of government reports into boys' achievement
When Labour came to power in 1997, ministers cited the gender gap as one of the biggest issues facing schools. A coordinated approach which required councils to tackle boys' underachievement was unveiled and teachers were offered curriculum advice. However, girls continued to outperform boys at all four key stages in English.
Since 1998 the Government has required local education authorities to produce long-term strategies to counteract boys' underachievement. In August 2000 Education Secretary David Blunkett announced that Ofsted would include local authorities' success in boosting boys' performance in its inspection criteria and that LAs will have to provide detailed evaluations of their progress.
In June 1999 all schools with key stage 3 pupils in England were asked to send three representatives to two days' training on whole-school approaches to literacy. Part of this training focused on boys' underachievement. The following statistics were emphasised:
- At key stages 2 and 3 girls significantly outperform boys in both reading and writing.
- At key stages 2 and 3 the gap in levels of achievement for boys and girls shows no signs of closing.
- The level of boys' achievement in reading and writing gives cause for concern.
In February 1999 the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) encouraged primary schools to hold extra writing lesson for borderline boys - those liable to just fail to reach the level expected of them in the summer 1999 SATs. Schools involved received an average of £1,100 each for the sessions starting in February 1999. The classes included girls, but boys significantly outnumbered girls since boys' relatively poor performance in writing had been picked out for special attention in the DfEE's revision guidance. The focus was on guided writing.
In 2002, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) launched a pilot of the Dads and Sons Give an Hour
scheme, to argue that fathers should be given an hour off work to spend with their
sons. The scheme is being piloted by the electrical chain store
Comet and had the backing of celebrities including Eamonn Holmes, Daley Thompson, Niall Quinn, John Motson and Anthony Worrall Thompson.. Comet is due to give staff who are fathers an hour
off in September to help sons aged between 11 and 14 with
their schoolwork. Fathers were urged to take their boys shopping at DIY
stores and supermarkets to improve maths skills. They were
also encouraged to watch quiz shows with their sons
and discuss favourite books and magazines. Almost two-thirds of fathers said that work commitments
were a barrier to them spending time with their children. A DfES spokeswoman said the
campaign's emphasis was on boys as they were more likely to
underachieve in school.
In 2005, the successful 'Breakthrough' programme, a joint programme between the DfES and the NHS, was extended in England to help teenage boys improve their exam results. The programme used mentoring, after-school classes and e-tutorials to encourage participants. Among the methods used by schools was a Books for Boys section in school libraries and a Real Men Read campaign. Read the full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4313492.stm
In the same year, the Government released figures to show that boys had fallen further behind girls in reading, writing and maths at primary school, according to test results for 11-year-olds. Just over half of boys in England achieved the expected standard in all three subjects compared to 63% of girls.
In May 2007, the DfES commissioned the School Library Association to create a list of 170 book titles to encourage boys aged 11 to 14 to read for pleasure. As well as the list, called Boys into Books, the DfES provided funding for all state secondary schools in England with boys on roll to choose 20 free books from the list for their school library. Eligible schools will also receive two sets of specially designed posters and
450 postcards to help promote reading. For more information about Boys into Books, visit www.sla.org.uk/boys-into-books-overview.php
In July 2007, David Laws (MP) wrote to the DCSF and asked what assessment they had made of the reasons for girls performing on average more highly than boys in GCSEs; and if they would make a statement. In reply Jim Knight, minister for schools and learners, said:
"Girls have out-performed boys since GCSE examinations were introduced in 1988. In 2006, 63.4% of girls and 53.8% of boys achieved five plus A*C grade GCSEs. Girls are ahead of boys at all stages of education from early years and foundation onwards. The gap in England has been broadly stable over two decades, and is in line with that in other OECD countries.
"The reasons are complex but appear mainly related to biological differences, differences in maturation, and differences in attitudes to learning and reading at different ages. The DCSF's research paper, Gender and education: the evidence on pupils in England, sets out the research evidence.
"Two points should however be noted: first boys' attainment has improved sharply over the past decade, broadly keeping pace with that of girls; second, gender gaps can be minimised by good teaching practice and by the encouragement of reading, ensuring that pupils of both genders make good progress.
"The DCSF is planning a programme of school-level investigations and action research activities designed to identify good practice in raisint boys' motivation and attainment, particularly in the field of literacy. This will build on existing DCSF initiatives such as Boys into Books. It will also feed into the National Year of Reading 2008 which will promote reading both for leisure and school attainment purposes."
In June 2007 the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) produced the report Gender and education: the evidence on pupils in England. It summarises research and statistics on the gender gap in attainment and
examines gender differences across a range of educational markers. It found that there was no evidence that an increase in the number of male primary teachers had an influence on boys' achievement. You can download the report from www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/genderandachievement/goodpractice/
As a result of concern over boys' underachievement, the DfEE in 2000 commissioned a three-year research project by Homerton College Cambridge to look at the small minority of schools that have managed to help boys without disadvantaging girls. The aim was to test whether successful strategies can be transferred between
schools and sustained over time. The project worked with over 60 schools in England and fed into the final report, Raising Boys' Achievement, which was published in May 2005. Download pdf's of the interim report, key findings and the final report from the DCSF website.
The DfES has also produced, alongside the National Healthy Schools Standard, a booklet on Raising Boys' Achievement. The booklet is a toolkit for school improvement and has been produced in the context of a holistic view of health and is based on the ten areas of whole school improvement recommended by the National Healthy School Standard.
View the DCSF school self-evaluation and links to examples of good practice
View the DCSF checklist which represents a simplified list of strategies taken from the Raising Boys' Achievement booklet
In 2003, Ofsted produced two seperate reports on boys' achievement. They are:
Yes he Can -schools where boys write well (HMI 505) July 2003: the report looks at the factors that most strongly characterise the work of schools in which boys write well. There is also commentary on school ethos and policies, curriculum planning, assessment, teaching and learning and pupils' response.
Boys' achievement in Secondary Schools (HMI 1659) July 2003: the report contains information on subject-related strategies, teaching and classroom management, strategies focusing on literacy, tracking and supporting pupil's performance, intervention and the causes of boys' underperformance.
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