Some twenty years ago, the performance of girls and boys in class was compared. Boys (36) better in exams, so various (37) were introduced to improve the performance of girls, including having (38) girl-only classes. Now, the situation is (39) , with girls consistently out-performing boys.
So, what has gone wrong with boys, and what can be done about it John Dunsford, leader of the association of head teachers of (40) schools, says that that the academic (41) of boys is a problem which has its (42) in society rather than the classroom. Girls, ,more than boys; see education .as a passport to a good job. On the other hand, according to Penny Lewis, a head teacher, young men lack (43) , which they hide with a show of bravado (虚张声势). They’re uncertain about their place in society. Some boys grow up in families where there is no male role model to follow.
Moreover, boys may learn in a different way to girls, (44) . And education is not seen as "cool".
As one contributor to a BBC Website put it, "Girls achieve more at School (45) ."
This is not just a problem in Britain. in a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and UNESCO, girls outperformed boys at reading at the age of 15 in all 45 countries. The UK ranks ninth out of the 45 countries for reading (46) . Interestingly, the study suggested that British children read for pleasure more often than those in other countries.