Yes He Can! Closing the Attainment Gap for Boys at Secondary School

This book reveals how six schools, serving very different communities, successfully tackled their boys' attainment gap by focusing on whole-school culture change. It explores the reasons why boys are underachieving and dispels common myths about engaging boys. Offering a wide range of tried-and-tested strategies, the book provides detailed guidance on creating a safe, respectful school community that enables boys and girls to thrive. Chapters outline how key interventions were implemented across each school and the impact they had including: - Building strong relationships and supporting home links - Role-modelling and peer mentoring - Enrichment and extracurricular activities - Literacy support and oracy development - Consistent discipline - Internal observation and staff training Full of practical advice to help make boys' underachievement a thing of the past, this is essential reading for all teachers and school leaders interested in boys' attainment and behaviour.

Mike Bell taught science in secondary schools and then ran courses in evidence-based methods for the Evidence Based Teachers Network (EBTN). He is the author of The Fundamentals of Teaching, Routledge 2021. He founded and was the lead researcher for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Men and Boys issues from 2021 to 2025.

Foreword Introduction Part 1: Background 1.1. What's the problem? 1.2. About the schools 1.3. General lessons learned Part 2: Effective Interventions 2.1. Changing the culture 2.2. Building relationships 2.3. Role models 2.4. Enrichment and celebrating success 2.5. High expectations 2.6. Language skills: Literacy and Oracy 2.7. Rewards and consequences Part 3: Supporting your staff 3.1. Time to focus on solutions 3.2. Unskilling staff Part 4: Conclusions 4.1. An optimistic message 4.2. Summary