Gifts Special Needs and Issues - The Merits Of Single-sex Education

Much of the debate about single-sex education gets tripped up on its legality under Title IX, the federal law requiring gender equity in public education. But things are changing.In May 2000, as a result of a bipartisan amendment to President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, the Bush Administration has taken to steps to change the way it enforces this law. Single-sex public schools would be eligible for up to $450 million per year in specially targeted funds. The ACLU and women's advocacy groups have already made noise about this development, just as they have ended up protesting earlier efforts for all boy and girl schools. Separate, they argue, can never be equal.

The graphic illustrates the split on the issue. In this 1997 survey, 1,350 elementary school principals were asked about their feelings on single-sex education. More than half regard the policy as undesirable, while more than a quarter think the policy has a merit. 20% could offer no opinion on the matter. One can't help but wonder if the survey's numbers offer a reasonably accurate picture of society's attitude to this idea.

Perhaps the debate exists because educators, critics and parents have so little evidence to draw on. There are currently 11 public or charter schools that are exclusively single-sex or offer same-sex classes. What are their merits? They often feature smaller class size. Girls often report feeling less intimidated without boys around, and more willing to ask questions. Boys have access to good role models and, more importantly, age-appropriate material. (For all the talk of girls' science and math scores being lower than boys' scores, girls tend to outperform boys in reading and writing performance tests.) Single-sex education also cuts down on typical boy-girl distractions. One potential drawback? Mixing with the opposite sex is a crucial part of a young person's social development.

One of the most ambitious experiments in single-sex education took place in California in 1997. Governor Pete Wilson initiated a program with three sets of schools for both boys and girls. Its intent was to provide school choice, replicate the success of some private girls' schools, and to offer urban boys positive role models. Students were drawn from the ranks of young people who needed the most help: those who had fallen behind in school, were experiencing trouble at home, or had already entered the correctional system. All but one closed within two years (a school in East Palo Alto remains). Only one study was done of the experiment: Is Single Gender Schooling Viable in the Public Sector? Lessons from California's Pilot Program. Its authors concluded that it was not the single-sex system that doomed the schools. They failed because the program was implemented poorly, had poorly trained teachers, inadequate funds.

Do these schools work? Most of the studies come from other countries where single-sex education is often freely available. In a study published by the Australian Council for Education Research, a study of 270,000 students over six years found boys and girls in single-sex classrooms scored an average of 15 to 22 percentile ranks higher than did boys and girls in co-educational settings. Graham Able of Dulwich College in London, England found children in single-sex education outperformed those in co-educational settings. In his research, widely published in British newspapers, boys seemed to benefit more than girls, challenging the traditional notions that it is the girls who get short-changed in public school settings.

Other reports suggest that the programs don't really have any effect on student performance. Some argue that if these schools do show academic improvement, it's become single-sex programs tend to attract young people who are driven and want to learn; scores therefore are bound to go up.

Perhaps the issue is best summarized by a quote from someone who has actually been there. A math teacher at the Arthur Ashe Academy for Boys and the Sally Ride Academy for Girls offered up this assessment in the San Francisco Chronicle: "In the boy's classes, if they were having trouble with something, they were much less embarrassed to say so. And the girls did much better in math." This is really the point of education, one could argue. It isn't about test scores; it's about stimulating the intellect and providing an atmosphere where a child is free to ask questions. Single-sex education isn't for everyone, of course — but it could very well benefit some.

Sources: Chart comes from the National Association of Elementary School Principals Retrieved May 31, 2002 from http://www.naesp.org; Asimov, Nanette. "Same Sex Schools a Failure, Study Says." San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 2001, p. A3. Karen Stabiner. "Boys Here, Girls There: Sure, If Equality 's The Goal." May 12, 2002, p. B1. "Get the Facts on Single-Sex Schools." Retrieved from http://www.suntimes.com; "National Association for the Advancement of Single Sex Public Education." Retrieved from http://www.singlesexschools.org.