Gender disparity in education has usually been experienced as disadvantaging girls. Although this continues to be the case in many places, the phenomenon of boys' underachievement--both in terms of participation and performance--has also become an issue in a number of countries. This book reviews the research on boys' underachievement and presents the arguments that have been put forward to understand its causes. The authors also present new studies from Australia, Jamaica, Lesotho and Samoa; and they use both the research and the evidence from the case studies to explore the causes and policy implications of this trend--the first time a truly cross-regional approach has been applied to the issue. Dr. Tony Sewell conducted the studies in the selected Commonwealth countries. This research was part of the 15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM, 2003) agenda and reports to 16CCEM (2006) on how open and distance learning methodologies can alleviate the problem of boys' education in circumstances where under-achievement is evident. This book will interest all education policy makers and analysts concerned to ensure gender equality in school education. (The monograph is divided into two parts. Part I, Cross-Country Analysis, includes: (1) Introduction and Background; (2) What the Existing Literature Says; and (3) Varying Dimensions and Lessons Emerging from Selected Commonwealth Countries. Part II, The Case Studies, include: (4) Australia: Socialisation and Socio-Economics; (5) Jamaica: Alienation and High Drop-out Rates; (6) Lesotho: A Case of Under-Participation; and (7) Samoa: A Major Challenge to the Education System. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations, Foreword (Ann Keeling and Sir John Daniel), Bibliography and Author information is also included. Contains 19 footnotes, 3 figures and 21 tables.)