Teaching in Focus: What Can Schools and Teachers Do to Help Boys Close the Gap in Reading Performance?

Teaching in Focus policy briefs use data from the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) to discuss issues relevant to teachers and teacher policies in a concise, user-friendly way. April issue looks at the role of schools and teachers in closing the gap in reading performance among boys and girls.

One of the goals of education systems is to provide all students with market-relevant skills regardless of their individual characteristics.  Poor or inadequate skills limit access to better-paying and more rewarding jobs and, eventually, to better living and health conditions, and higher social and political participation. Yet, inequalities in education rise. Family background, disabilities and gender all have a big role to play in students potential. Boys, for instance, tend to lack the basic reading proficiency needed for today’s knowledge societies. The latest TALIS-PISA link report, Positive, High-achieving Students? What Schools and Teachers Can Do, explores some of the teacher and school factors that could play a role in bridging the gap in reading performances at school between girls and boys.