Critics of single-sex education have their own arguments to support their beliefs. One is that only children from affluent families benefit from the "single-sex education" experiment. The ACER (see above) and other studies can easily disprove this theory. Indeed, in 1998, a British Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) study examined the results from over 800 Public schools and showed conclusively that improved performance in single-sex schools was in no way attributable to socio-economic factors and that students in such schools had a more positive attitude to their academic studies and excelled in all-round personal development.
Finally, in Jamaica, a researcher named Marlene Hamilton discovered that students in single-se schools outperformed their co-ed peers in just about every subject. When the study was done in the mid-80‘s, the Jamaican public-school system still included many single-sex schools. Hamilton's results showed that in that situation, girls in single-sex schools achieved best; boys in single-sex schools were next; boys in co-ed schools next and surprisingly perhaps, girls in co-ed schools achieved the lowest scores.
Another interesting facet of the debate is the results that come from what might be called "before and after" schools ----i.e. schools that have totally transitioned from co-ed to single-sex. In these cases we see the same students, the same teachers, the same academic programs --the only variant is the single-sex issue.
A classic case worth studying took place at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Ben Wright, the principal, had been inundated with an extremely high number of discipline reports, averaging around 30 each day. (Interestingly again, the vast majority of these "trouble-makers" were boys.) Wright then transformed the school from co-ed to single-sex classes and within a very short space of time, the results were beyond his wildest dreams. The discipline reports dropped to one or two a day. This in turn allowed the teachers to begin more concentration on academics and the school's results on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning Tests are almost legendary. The boys in the school went from between the 10 to 20 percentile ranking to over 70; their reading percentile went from the 20's to over 60. Their proud boast was that the Thurgood Marshall boys outperformed the whole state in compositional writing !
Similar results were reported from an inner-city school in Montreal, where after the change to single-sex classes, absenteeism dropped from 20% (which is horrific in any school) to around 7%. The better news is that the rate of students in that school graduating and going on to college has nearly doubled.
So much for the research.
The benefits of single-sex education are more than just academic. It has been shown to open up a whole new world to students, encouraging them to explore areas of study and interest that were previously hampered by gender stereotypes. Single-sex educated boys are more likely to be involved in drama, languages and biology while the girls are now participating more in math and science. The problem of "too early in life" interpersonal relationships is also solved by single-sex schools. In co-ed schools, the question of who's dating who, who is cool and who isn't, who's in and who's out, provide only additional stress on the maturing process of teenagers. Usually such is not the case in single-sex schools and at least, the problem is minimized if it occurs at all.
The hard evidence is there for those who have the courage to examine it with an open mind. In many ways, the American dream of a complete and useful education is being stolen from students, often to appease political and union ideals. It does take courage to stand up against the status quo. Yet that is what is needed if we are to provide our children with an education that will take them into the world of 2050 and beyond. It is not only the Marines who "need a few good men and women"! Our current education system is failing us and the children it is supposed to serve. While change is never easy, it is sometimes essential. At least all of us involved in the education arena should have the courage to start this methodology debate and allow ourselves to be challenged to think outside the status quo. Perhaps we might even discover a better way and have generations of future students thank us for daring to be different and accept the differences they bring to the educational process.
