Boys Failing, System is Fine

from the British Guardian Unlimited, via AH at

http://www.angryharry.com/index.html



Exam results reveal gender gulf in schools Study proves boys lag far behind girls nationwide Amelia Hill, education correspondent

Sunday May 15, 2005 The Observer

The shocking extent of under-achievement by boys in some of Britain's leading schools has been revealed in a report which for the first time shows the huge differences in the performance of girls and boys across the country.

The report, which breaks down the A-level results of 1,500 schools, both state and independent, by gender, shows schools where girls are up to 115 per cent more likely to achieve an A or B grade than boys.

'This data shows there are schools that seem to be educating their students to a very high level, but which actually need to be making a major effort to get their boys up to scratch,' said Ralph Lucas, editor of the Good Schools Guide, which requested the data from the Department for Education and Skills under the Freedom of Information Act.

In 71 per cent of the 122 independent schools surveyed, girls gained more A and B grades than boys in their 2004 A-levels. Girls achieved more than 10 per cent better results than boys in one in five schools, with some of the best establishments in the country showing the widest differences: in Marlborough College, for example, just 73 per cent of boys got A and B grades compared to 93 per cent of girls.

'Parents should take this new information into account when choosing a school for their boys because this problem will definitely affect their own sons' performances,' said Lucas.

In the 1,132 state schools surveyed, girls achieved better than boys in 74 per cent of cases, achieving over 10 per cent better results in 43 per cent of schools.

The figures will reignite the debate on the performance of boys and girls in school. Although girls have regularly outperformed boys in GCSEs and A-levels, it has not been shown before how big the gap between the genders was.

In the most extreme case, City College in Birmingham, girls were 115 per cent more likely to achieve an A or B grade than boys. In London's Kidbrooke School, where Jamie Oliver recently transformed the lunchtime menu, just 15 per cent of boys achieved the top grade compared to 35 per cent of girls.

'It is very hard to pin down the exact reason for the disparity in results but I don't think there's anything more we can do,' said Leslie Clark, headteacher at Edgehill College, Bideford, north Devon.

no, it's easy, actually, assuming yr gonads are still intact

apparently you took your gender-ambiguous name a bit too literally

lemme help you with that bobbie pinning down, Lez

the reason boys are regressing academically and socially is the feminized education in matriarchal societies which you obviously champion -- a few decades of v heavy anti-male propaganda and second-class-citizenship, combined with "masculine" "leadership" exemplified by your pathetic self


'We give all our students exactly the same support.


that's a lie, we both know it, and much more importantly, the BOYS in YOUR SCHOOL KNOW IT, DON'T LIKE IT, and THINK YOU SUCK for it

they're not gonna learn manhood from you, because you haven't found yours yet

their collective inferiority as males in western culture has seeped like poison potion into their very leptons and quarks

nice going, dood -- how much they payin you?


'The only reason I can think of is that this school has a history of attracting academic, high-flying girls,' he added. 'Perhaps we do not have boys of quite that calibre yet.'


fuck off, lackey pig

you're the one "flying high," like a man-monkey on a skyleash


Professor Tony Henry, principal at the City College in Birmingham, where 28 girls and no boys got an A or B at A-level last year, blames the local culture.

'We have three buildings dedicated to women-only education in Birmingham and boys have now become the problem instead,' he said. 'We are trying to re-engage boys through vocational and activity-based courses but we are fighting against a heady local cocktail of male unemployment and an extreme drug culture.'


close, no cigar


But Malcolm Trobe, headteacher at Malmesbury School in Wiltshire, rejects the data. 'There is not a significant difference between the genders if you look at the value-added results: we are getting more boys coming into sixth form with low prior achievement compared to girls,' he said.

'Instead of saying we should be getting more boys staying on in education, we should be ensuring we are getting them on the right path for them,' he added. 'Of the boys who do take A-levels here, we don't have many dropping out, while the boys who choose vocational paths instead tend to do very well too, suggesting both cohorts are making the correct decisions for them.'


"Professional Triplespeak"


At the £11,000-a-year selective, private City of London Freeman's School in Ashtead, Surrey, just 47 per cent of boys achieved A and B grades compared to 81 per cent of girls. Headteacher David Haywood believes this is to do with the intrinsic ability of boys rather than the school's educational ethos.

Kent College in Canterbury is one of the very few schools where boys do better, with 65 per cent getting an A or B compared to 55 per cent of girls. Head Gina Carminati said the improvements follow a recent change in teaching styles. 'We now spend time with each pupil, focusing on their personal learning styles and setting them individual, challenging, lesson-by-lesson targets,' he said.