New book shows improving boys’ attainment can be done

A review of “Yes, He Yes He Can! Closing the Attainment Gap for Boys at Secondary School” by Mike Bell

This blog was kindly authored by Mark Brooks OBE, Director of Policy, Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys.

Since the turn of the decade and past the pandemic, there has at last been a political realisation that all is not well with men and boys in the country. From increasing male suicide rates to increasing prison numbers, to increasing male youth unemployment and the continuing gender attainment gap between boys and girls at school.

The latter was seen very clearly last month with continuing gaps at GCSEs, technical qualifications and A levels. The media hype around boys being more likely to achieve A/A* is because, whilst a higher percentage of boys taking the exam received those grades than girls, far fewer boys actually take A levels, and so more girls got those grades in total!.

The outcome of this can be seen in the UCAS data published on A level results day. It showed that 33,000 fewer 18-year-old UK-domiciled boys had been accepted by universities than their female peers.

Whilst broadly there has been political movement around men’s health, with a strategy for this in place in England trying to get recognition, let alone acceptance, of boys’ relative underperformance in education has been far harder. The silence has been especially loud from the educational ‘Establishment’. In fact, it has taken ‘think tanks’ like HEPI, Public First, Centre for Social Justice, Institute for Government and the Boys’ Education Commission (hosted by the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys) to take up the mantle.

This is why Mike Bell’s new book is important. Expanding the approach taken from an earlier report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men and Boys on the attainment gap and using his experience as both a teacher and education trainer, the book delves into the actual reasons and solutions from those actually working in the schools. It bridges the gap between professional practice and public policy by amplifying the voices of those in school leadership who have seen the underperformance, resolved to fix it in their actual schools, and have been successful in doing so.

The book focuses on six schools, serving very different communities, and led by different personalities and experiences. But despite these differences, they share a commonality in that they broadly agree on the solutions without actually having spoken to each other beforehand, and do not take a fatalistic ‘it’s too hard to fix’ approach.

Solutions include the importance of whole-school culture change; consistency (especially around discipline); relationship building, including with parents; high expectations of the boys; mentoring/role models; enrichment activities; and literacy and oracy.  

The book is really brought to life by its practical nature, and it is valuable for any teacher, head teacher and governing body at any school of any size. It is a handbook, not a book of theory or a book of abstract essays. It actually contains the words of the six school leaders verbatim, not through the lens of interpretation by Mike or anyone else.

Each school leader talks through the journey they have taken in a way that is laden with professional expertise and insight. All use language that any educationalist can understand, and the text is packed with ideas that anyone could implement in their actual school. And all at zero cost too!

The school leaders are also clear that what they have introduced has no negative impacts on the girls in their school. In fact, the whole book and the broader direction of travel is that we want girls to flourish: a world of floundering boys is no use to them, not just in the classroom but also in broader societal, economic and cultural terms.

For higher education leaders, this book will also act as a catalyst to ask questions of the school sector. Why are there so many fewer teenage boys applying to go to university, let alone getting the grades to be accepted on a place? September last year, for every 100 teenage British girls that went to university, only 78 of the male peers did. A gap of around 44,000. It is unlikely to be any different this year. Imagine the positive impact on the university sector if there was parity between the genders.

In summary, Mike and the teachers’ passion shines through the book, and when combined with the power of the practical, it becomes a must-read for educationalists – especially those looking at the exam results of their pupils this summer and asking themselves why the boys in their school are always behind. This first-class handbook provides the starting point for those seeking answers in an area of public policy and professional practice that has been left on the shelf for far too long. We owe it to the boys, their families and communities to fix their underperformance.