Tick for boys in school report

By REBECCA WALSH education reporter

Boys are not the perennial underachievers they have been made out to be.

New research shows ethnicity and the socio-economic status of a school have more influence on student achievement than gender.

In a major review of 450 New Zealand and international studies, Wellington researchers Dr Adrienne Alton-Lee and Dr Angelique Pratt found there were more similarities than differences and what was good for girls was good for boys.

The study contradicts the prevailing view that boys lag behind girls in academic achievement.

Last year, the Education Review Office promoted special measures to improve the achievement of boys and recommended that schools run boys-only classes.

But Dr Alton-Lee said while boys-only classes were not always a bad idea, the review did not support the need to do things differently for boys and girls.

The Ministry of Education plans to use the information as part of a "stock-take" of the curriculum.

Dr Alton-Lee, a director of the Understanding, Learning and Teaching Institute based in Wellington, said the research indicated that the biggest differences in achievement were related to a school's decile and ethnicity.

Pupils from low-decile schools, and Pacific Island and Maori students, were more likely to perform poorly. Maori and Pacific Island boys' achievement, in particular, was lower than overall means.

Dr Alton-Lee said that while boys' lower literacy levels were an area of concern, New Zealand boys still performed, on average, above the international mean.

"The popular myth ... is people have been seeing those literacy gaps and assuming that they are happening across the curriculum and that somehow all of a sudden boys are failing as a group ... But at school-leaving age boys are doing better at mathematics and science."

Dr Alton-Lee said part of the problem was that boys were likely to see English as a feminine subject and a "wuss" thing to do.

"Once a subject looks like a girl thing, that's a huge turnoff to many boys. I think that's an issue not just for schools but the wider society."

Parents were partly responsible for limiting the opportunities for their children, she said. Research showed New Zealand parents were more likely to buy computers for their sons and books for their daughters.

Dr Alton-Lee warned against comparisons solely on the basis of gender. New Zealand boys and girls had both performed poorly in the latest Third International Mathematics and Science Study.

And, while girls were more likely to perform better at internal assessment for secondary science, boys performed better on an international measure.

"The research suggests boys aren't doing as well at completing assignments, behaving well in class, and those kind of things that are influencing their national assessment. So, where gender becomes really important is in explaining some of the behaviour differences."

Dr Alton-Lee said the research did not support the need to do things differently for boys and girls. Likewise, achievement differences could not be attributed to single-sex or co-educational schools.

Frances Kelly, senior manager of learning and evaluation policy at the ministry, said the gender issue was complex and needed to be considered in combination with ethnicity and socio-economic status.

The ministry would look at how it could use the review findings to improve achievement for Maori and Pacific Island boys.

A summary of the findings would be made available to schools.