The Playing for Success scheme has been offering maths and computing lessons for young under-achievers at local Premiership football clubs for some years. Some critics say it encourages “lad culture” and does nothing for girls. But evaluators from the National Foundation for Educational Research have found that it has helped to boost pupils’ achievement.
Researchers Caroline Sharp, Lesley Kendall and Ian Schagen compared groups of inner-city youngsters who attended the football club classes with similar groups who did not. They found that girls also benefited from the activities and enjoyed them as much as the boys - even if they didn’t support the home team: http: www.leeds.ac.ukeducoldocuments00001833.htm Titles and abstracts of the other 800-plus papers that were presented at last month’s British Educational Research Association conference are listed at: http:brs.leeds.ac.ukbeiwwwBEIAbera2001.htm and many full papers are already on-line.
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