The underperformance of boys in school has been much debated. We’ve had plenty of proposed solutions over the years, but nothing seems to have worked.

So, the gap remains: for example, in 2019, 10 per cent fewer 11-year-old boys than girls of the same age achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined in their key stage 2 Sats.

Part of the problem is that there are too few evidence-informed solutions that schools can utilise. Instead, a cottage industry of dubious “boy-friendly” solutions has found its way into our classrooms.

Boys aren’t working hard? Let’s make them listen to an inspirational male speaker for 15 minutes. Boys aren’t reading? Let’s show them a picture of a Premier League footballer reading. So many of the “solutions” seem to promote unhelpful male stereotypes.

What we can do instead of the above is to focus on reading. We know that reading is key to academic success. And we know that many boys simply don’t seem to read for pleasure and appear less motivated to read than their female peers. According to the National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey, in 2019, only 46.5 per cent of boys indicated that they enjoyed reading “quite a lot”, compared with 60.3 per cent of girls.

Meanwhile, a recent GL Assessment report suggests that a mere 47 per cent of boys aged 15 actually read at their correct age level.

So, what steps can schools take?

Well, good assessment of reading is an important start. This may include standardised reading tests, along with diagnostic assessments aligned to the curriculum. Manageable quizzing and questioning based on reading can narrow down for us which boys need more help with reading. The aforementioned GL data on reading assessments shows that boys from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to fall into this category.

Once identified, possible solutions for these boys could include better book access, reading practice during the school day and well-supported homework.

Teacher knowledge matters here, too. Research from Professor Teresa Cremin indicates that many teachers have scant knowledge of children’s literature to guide young boys’ book choices. This knowledge must extend to how you teach boys - and girls, young and old - explicitly how to read science textbooks, history sources and more.

But once you target boys in this way, you begin to see that focusing on gender is probably not the best way to approach this issue. More specific problem-solving related to specific areas of teaching and learning, such as reading ability, may prove far more fruitful work.

This article originally appeared in the 26 June 2020 issue under the headline “Not just a job for the boys: tackling the gender gap”