You can see that the two charts, each give quite a different picture of the performance of boys and girls in the two key subjects of Math and English. It shows that in English, girls consistently outperform boys over a period of 6 years, achieving scores about 10% above their male peers. There is quite a different picture when we look at the Math results with no real difference between genders in the results. What is the explanation for these key differences? To answer this question, researchers look at biological and cognitive factors, and a range of social factors. The interaction between these different components in early childhood development are seen as maintained and reinforced in the school context. And this leads to distinct gender patterns of behavior and skills with direct consequences for school performance and achievement. The ultimate uses of this evidence to show that biological factors, such as patterns of cognitive developments are closely linked to social factors.