Mike Younger and Molly Warrington

This report is one outcome of the Raising Boys‟ Achievement Project, which operated in English primary and secondary schools between 2000 and 2004. The report highlights the challenges and strategies employed by these schools, which will have implications for the debate concerning the gap in achievement by gender. Schools that had strategies implemented, which improved the academic performance of boys without negatively affecting girls‟ performances, were identified and called originators. Based on research conducted with originators, strategies can be placed in four categories:

o Pedagogic: classroom based approaches centred on teaching and learning
o Individual: focus on target- setting and mentoring
o Organizational: ways of organizing learning at the whole school level
o Socio-cultural: approaches that attempt to create an environment for learning that facilitate the congruence between students‟ beliefs and attitudes, and the goals of the school

During the intervention phase, schools and originators formed triads. The triads implemented strategies of originators and the outcome was monitored. The main pedagogic approach focused on literacy. Strategies include the development of a „reading buddy‟ scheme, and using drama to teach literacy. There was a focus on encouraging boys to become successful and satisfied readers by establishing a context in which boys wanted to read. This involved:

1)  having a wide range of texts available, creating a space for talk and reflection about reading, and sharing ideas about the text and what was enjoyable in it
2)  providing opportunities to choose interesting reading matter, and to discuss reading in a meaningful way

Research conducted during the project did not support the belief that the dominant learning styles of boys differ from those of girls nor the case of boy-friendly pedagogies, either in the context of mixed-sex or single-sex teaching. However, the authors noted a set of pre-conditions that seem essential in any attempt to implement single-sex classes for particular subjects:

• Teachers must use a proactive and assertive approach, which avoids the negative or confrontational, but conveys high expectations and a sense of challenge, and uses praise regularly and consistently.
  

• There must be the promotion of a team ethic, to forge an identity for the class of which the students can feel part, with humour and informality, and identification with students‟ interests and enthusiasms.

It is noted that “One of the essential conclusions we have reached through the RBA Project, is that „under-achieving‟ boys and girls are not likely to engage with learning if schools simply concentrate on adopting narrowly focused and quick-fix solutions in isolation from the ethos of the whole school.” Instead, the authors conclude that the characteristics of quality teaching are just as suitable and effective for both boys and girls.