Single-sex classrooms gaining favor

[The1calledTKE]

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- Without a snicker, or even a whisper, the eighth-grade boys listened as each of their classmates stood and pledged to study hard and earn high marks to get ready for high school.

Social studies teacher Wilma K. Spencer smiled. On the first day of single-sex classrooms at Southern Leadership Academy, her students had abandoned the wisecracks, the note-passing, the fighting, the flirting and the shyness, and were ready to learn.

"I think sometimes with the two genders together, they are so influenced by each other," she said. "They want to impress each other."

The public middle school, plagued by low test scores and unruliness, is near the forefront of an initiative that could catch hold as the U.S. Department of Education drafts regulations making it easier for schools to create gender-specific classes.

From the day's first bell to the last, Southern's 820 boys and girls are cloistered in separate classrooms. Only chorus and band remain coed.

Class times are staggered to avoid boys and girls mingling in the hallways. They might eat lunch at the same time, but they can't sit at the same tables.

Some students say the change reduces distractions and eases pressures.

"We won't be embarrassed to stand up in front of the class and do a report," said seventh-grader Ebonee Herd. "And we don't have to look all pretty-pretty."

Seeing a change
Nearly 65 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches at the school, tucked into a South Louisville working-class neighborhood near the famed Churchill Downs horse track.

The school has struggled with low test scores and high suspension rates for several years. "We felt we needed to think out of the box and take a risk and do something dramatically different that was substantive," Principal Anita Jones said.

The faculty recommended switching to single-sex classrooms, and the plan was approved by the school's local council: Jones, three teachers and two parents.

Southern followed the lead of Paducah Middle School, about 225 miles west of Louisville, which set up some single-gender classes in the middle of the last school year.

Boys and girls attend separate classes in sixth grade, but they are gradually brought together in school as they prepare for high school.

Assistant Principal Richard Dowdy said that during the first three days of the last school year, when all classrooms remain mixed, 25 students were sent to the office for misconduct. This year, the number dipped to four.

Title IX and the single-sex classroom
Nationally, about 15 public schools have same-sex-only classrooms or are exclusively boys or girls schools, said Dr. Leonard Sax, a psychologist and physician who heads the Maryland-based National Association for Single Sex Public Education. An additional 40 to 50 schools offer single-sex classes but don't require them, he said.

Sax predicted the numbers will grow once the government removes a legal cloud over schools with single-sex classrooms.

The Title IX law prohibits public schools from discriminating on the basis of sex, and schools with single-sex classrooms have tried to avoid a conflict with the law by offering boys and girls an essentially equal education.

The Education Department is drafting new Title IX regulations to give schools more flexibility to offer single-sex instruction. A final version likely will take effect next year, said department spokesman Dan Langan.

But Nancy Zirkin, spokeswoman for the American Association of University Women, said her group opposes the change because "separate is never equal."

"We would never accept this in a race context. Why in the world are we doing this in a gender context?" Zirkin said.

The National Education Association, in a letter to the department, said single-sex public education would elevate the "discredited doctrine of `separate but equal' to official government policy," promote "harmful and false sex stereotypes" and leave students ill-prepared for the real world.

NEA staff attorney Cindy Chmielewski added in an interview, "There is nothing out there that can conclusively demonstrate that single-sex education alone improves student achievement."

But at Southern Leadership Academy, Assistant Principal Bill Redmon likes the early results of dividing the genders.

"From what I've seen going around the classrooms, it's much more orderly," he said during lunchroom duty. "We don't have the boy-girl hormonal thing going on."

[KappaKittyCat]

I'm all for gender separated education from ages 10-15. I've worked with choirs in that age bracket, and they work so much better when they're not coed.

I would have felt much better in middle school if there weren't all those icky boys around.

[sororitygirl2]

This is an interesting topic and I can definitely see how seperating boys and girls at that age could be beneficial in the classroom but I can't believe they don't let them sit at the tables during lunch! They need SOME social interaction!

[IowaHawkeye]

I am all for single-sex education - probably because i am a product of it and it was honestly the best experience of my life. I went to an all-female high school in chicago and i gained so much in terms of opportunities, classroom attention, self-esteem and leadership from the experience.

i'm not saying public schools are bad - but from my experience i would recommend single sex education.

and in my case there was plenty of socializing - there was an all guys high school right next door and 2 more a few miles away. it was great

[Dionysus]

I can see a lot going wrong with this. For example, boy classes/schools getting more advantages than girl ones.

Anyways, I must be from a different planet, because when I was in jr. and sr. hs I couldn't care any less what guys thought of me, matter of fact I was more concerned about how other girls thought of me. I think if I went to an all girls school or had classes with all girls that would have been torture for me.

I kind of think that's why sorority life (not the show) wasn't for me. Too much estrogen!

I guess for the guys and girls who ARE easily influenced by the opposite sex, it can be a good thing.

[bucutie02]

Wow, what an interesting topic!

In all honesty, I think I would benefit from single-sex education. I feel like there would be less pressure and I would probably gain more self confidence from it.

[LeslieAGD]

Without ever having observed single-sexed classroom environments, I believe it might be a good idea up until high school. I think at that point, they really need to start socializing with each other.

[Steeltrap]

There is a book by Karen Stabiner, All Girls and Single-Sex Education: Why it Matters, that discusses this issue in detail. I saw an excerpt of it in Los Angeles magazine that talked about the Marlborough School, this chi-chi private school in Los Angeles.

I think I could have benefited from single-sex education, because of my shyness and fearfulness I felt growing up. My goodness, I let males intimidate the heck out of me as a young one.

More information at www.amazon.com.

[SilverTurtle]

I guess I'm in the minority on this one, 'cause I'm AGAINST single-sex education at any age.

I get that the students are influenced by each other. But I, too, would have been much more uncomfortable with girls-only (I play better with boys, and always have). Which is why parents and teachers and all of us adults need to start treating boys & girls truly equally. Children need to learn that there's no reason to get embarassed in front of members of the opposite gender. They're not in school to impress boys/girls, but to learn. My parents, mother especially, encouraged me to learn & let me know it was okay for me to be "smart". It was never implied that my goal was to be pretty & land a man, but rather that I was to excel to the best of my ability for MYSELF.

I had a few friends in college that came from single-sex schools (private schools, all the way through h.s.), male & female. We had many discusstions about the pros/cons of single-sex education. Their social skills with members of the opposited sex, in the classroom & in social situations, were on par with about 9th graders. It wasn't until about our junior year of college that they started becoming more comfortable speaking up in class (girls especially) & acting more "adult" out of class.

I know that studies have been done that show that girls are more likely to volunteer info in all-girl settings, participate, etc. (of course, there are no boys there to do it, so I don't know how that factors in). But if we start teaching them it's okay in kindergarten, by the time they get to college it should be a non-issue. I don't see the point in post-poning the environment, since I'm pretty sure no businesses are going to go to single-sex offices & we have to deal with men/women on a daily basis.

And while I understand the argument that boys & girls are rather hormonal during puberty, how do you deal with gay/lesbian students? Putting them with members of the same sex isn't going to ease their comfort level any, if anything it would probably hinder it.

[texas*princess]

i have to agree with SilverTurtle here.

While I have never personally observed single-sex classroom setting, it is just my personal opinion that this is a major backwards step for society - and to a certain degree, I can somewhat understand and agree with what Zirken mentioned in the article : "We would never accept this in a race context. Why in the world are we doing this in a gender context?".

Like SilverTurtle mentioned, being in co-ed learning environments can help social skills.. and anyone hoping to land a job after graduation needs great social & communication skills to be hired or to work effectively in the work environment that contain both sexes.

[valkyrie]

Well said, SilverTurtle, and I agree with you 100%.

[lionlove]

I considered going to an all womens college but decided at the last minute to go to a coed college. While at times, I like the company of only women, to be completely isolated from men all the time would be scary.

[IowaHawkeye]

These are a few facts taken from my schools "facts page"

-McAuley students possess confidence in their abilities, individuality, self-esteem, leadership, risk-taking and the desire for success.
-Girls who are educated in single-gender classrooms scored on average 15 to 22 percentile ranks higher than girls in a coeducational setting.
-There is superior academic performance of students in single-gender schools.
-Students in a single-gender school have a significantly more positive attitude toward learning.
-Girls in single-gender schools outperform not only girls at coed schools, but also outperform boys at both single-gender and coed schools.
-Girls at a single-gender school score better in science and reading than girls in coed schools.
-Girls at single-gender schools have less stereotyped ideas about what women can and cannot do.
-Graduates of single-gender schools are more likely to go to a prestigious college, and more likely to aspire to graduate school or professional school, than are graduates of coed schools.
-Students attending single-gender schools outperform students in coed schools in almost every subject tested.
-Single-gender education has been shown to broaden students' horizons, to allow them to feel free to explore their own strengths and interests, not constrained by gender stereotypes.


Source: National Association for the Advancement of Single Sex Public Education

Now my school stood for and prided itself on the quality education and empowerment of women. Coincidentally, it is also the largest all-female school in the nation with over 2000 girls.

Even though our classrooms were single sex doesn't mean our lives were absent of any socialization with males or the "real world" We had dances and formals, put on plays and performances with men from other schools, a woman was always the student council president (me actually, my senior year ), we had panels of discussion and debate with other local all-boys schools, we had homecoming with them and the women frommy school served as cheerleaders and band members at all-boys schools, the opportunities were endless - and it was amazing.

I am very proud of my school (if you haven't noticed ) and as someone who experienced single-sex education, let me tell you, my social skills/oral presentation skills are not lacking.

[AOX81]

I'll get back to you on this one...the jury is still out.

[valkyrie]

IowaHawkeye, I hear what you're saying, but I'm very troubled by the fact that society is getting to the point where there seems to be a "need" for single sex education to obtain all the benefits that come from attending a single sex school. Why do girls in single sex educational settings have higher self esteem and do better on tests? I would rather figure that out and address it than separate boys from girls in schools. I think that the *why* is VERY important here. What is going wrong for girls in our school system? Can't we fix it?

I also know that you have excellent social skills, but I would imagine that there are plenty of people educated in single sex schools who don't because they have never really learned to deal with the other gender in a work/school related setting. Most of the things you mentioned in terms of interaction between the girls' and boys' schools involved primarily social or "fun" activities -- homecoming, dances, band, cheerleading. I wonder where the boys and girls learn to actually work with people of the other gender. I'm not saying they don't, I'm just wondering how and where it happens.