In recent years, the small but fast growing movement to implement single-sex public education in the United States has been picking up steam. Some elementary and middle schools in Virginia have recently experimented with single-sex classrooms, with moderate levels of success, and there is talk of bringing the practice to New York City and D.C. In an effort to improve the dismal state of the District’s schools, the D.C. Board of Education should plan to offer single-sex classrooms in a select number of the city’s public schools next school year.
By next fall, an estimated 500 public schools nationwide will offer single-sex classes. Single-sex education is an easy, and more importantly, cheap, way for struggling schools to improve their performance. The past decade has seen a spate of studies that show that boys and girls learn differently, but the real question is whether separating the sexes is the best way to capitalize on these differences. A 2005 study by the Department of Education showed that there was a quantifiable increase in the standardized test scores of students who attended single-sex schools.
The concept of single-sex classrooms should be put into practice because they create opportunities that do not exist in co-ed classrooms. A report on NBC News found that single-sex classrooms prove to be most beneficial to elementary school-age children. Single-sex classrooms are also more likely to combat gender stereotypes; girls won’t categorize the hard sciences as just for boys, and boys won’t feel the need to impress the girls with a macho disdain for “softer” subjects like creative writing and poetry.
However, to exploit the opportunities that gender-segregated classrooms offer, teachers need special training in gender-specific teaching strategies. Teachers at a Virginia school were given copies of “Boys and Girls Learn Differently!” by therapist Michael Gurian to augment their classroom techniqes. The book emphasizes the fact that boys need to fidget and move to stay alert, while girls can more easily sit still and pay attention.
Teachers have echoed the findings of the book, saying they see similar patterns in their classrooms on a daily basis. Parents have also responded favorably to the idea of single-sex classrooms and administrators at the Virginia school found that the single-sex classes filled up quickly.
The current school system and teaching styles in this country are more conducive to girls’ learning styles. Single-sex classrooms, in which boys have shown the greatest benefit, allow for both genders to get the most out of their time in public schools. The District’s failing schools must explore single-sex classrooms, for the benefit of both students and taxpayers alike.
