is a ten-term project funded by the DfES which seeks to address issues of underachievement and raising achievement of boys and girls in primary, secondary and special schools. It is a research and intervention project which seeks to identify

• the strategies schools have employed to raise educational standards for boys (and girls)
• the processes by which this has been achieved
• the extent to which any improvements in performance have been sustained over time.

The first months of the Project were spent working with a small number of pilot primary and secondary schools where good practice in teaching and learning styles had been perceived to exist, and where gender issues were being addressed, sometimes as part of a whole school policy, sometimes as part of a more tightly focused and specific strategy. As part of this Pilot Stage of the research, we analysed GCSE results and Key Stage 2 National Curriculum test results over the period 1996-2000 for all secondary and most primary schools in England, to identify schools where the gender gap appeared to be consistently narrowing through time, as a result of sustained improvements in the achievement of boys. Working with pilot secondary and primary schools, we also attempted to identify strategies which schools had put into place which appeared to have had some initial or sustained effect upon achievement levels, and might have potential for further development and refinement.

An additional aspect of the project in the first year was a survey of single-sex teaching within co-educational comprehensive schools. A number of schools have tried single-sex classes as a way of raising boys' achievement, particularly in English and Language classes, and telephone interviews were undertaken and visits made to schools where single-sex teaching had been used within the last three years. A summary of the findings of this part of the project is available, and one of the triads in the intervention stage is focused on single-sex classes.

spans the period September 2001-July 2004. We are working with a number of schools where the gender gap has narrowed in this way, and where promising intervention strategies have had some effect upon the achievement profile of boys (and girls) within the school. Working with key schools, we are in the process of identifying the essential characteristics such strategies, and attempting to develop these further in partnership with the school. It is important to stress that the Project is designed to have a positive impact upon achievement levels in the schools that work with us, and to have a real effect on teaching and students' learning in the classroom.

In practical terms, the Project is organised around the notion of the Learning Triad, whereby schools work in groups of three to attempt to refine and develop these intervention strategies across the three schools. We have established nine secondary and eight primary Learning Triads in different parts of the country, with a member of the Project Team working closely with key staff in each Triad, to support and monitor developments, and to liaise across schools, so that participating schools can benefit from each others' experiences.

We are also working with a group of special schools from different parts of the country.

An Interim Report was submitted to DfES in August 2003. This can be downloaded in PDF format from the link below.

Interim Report

Some preliminary findings were presented during a symposium convened by the Project Team at the 2004 Annual British Educational Research Association (BERA) Conference. Copies of the papers given can be downloaded in PDF format from the links below.

Raising Boys' Achievements in Literacy

Raising Boys' Achievements within an Inclusive Context

Tackling 'Laddish' Masculinity to Raise Boys' Achievement

Unexpected Results of a Learning Styles Intervention