Jane Whinnett, head of the Balgreen Nursery School in Edinburgh, said, 'I believe any lagging behind among boys is more likely to be because they have been pushed into more structured learning too early, rather than too late.'
Ms Whinnett, who is also Scotland's representative for Early Education (BAECE), was responding to the findings of a report by academics which suggested that the gap in achievement in Scottish girls and boys dated from the mid-1970s and was manifested at pre-school. The report said it should be tackled at an early stage.
Dr Linda Croxford, who wrote the report, Gender and Performance in Scotland's Schools, with fellow University of Edinburgh academics Teresa Tinklin, Alan Ducklin and Barbara Frame, called for rigorous testing of children as soon as they start school to help teachers monitor problems.
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