Benefit and downsides of single sex classrooms When I was a child, especially an adolescent, the notion of being in an all-boys

classroom wouldve been a terrible thing. I mean, No girls? But as an adult Im all for it for my daughter, I had 3 older daughters, and my share of distractions brought on by the opposite sex. Based on my research, the facts speak for themselves, for example. On the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test), here were the results: Percentage of students scoring proficient on the FCAT boys in coed classes: 37% scored proficient girls in coed classes: 59% scored proficient girls in single-sex classes: 75% scored proficient boys in single-sex classes: 86% scored proficient. The U.S. Department of Education contracted with RMC Research Corporation to conduct a descriptive study of existing single-sex public schools that would address the following evaluation questions: 1.What is currently known about the effects of single-sex schooling on student achievement and other outcomes? 2.What is known about the causes of those outcomes? 3.What are the characteristics of public single-sex schooling? What are the contextual, instructional, and behavioral practices unique to single-sex schools? 4.What perceived benefits or disadvantages are associated with single-sex schooling? 5.What studies, including research questions and methodology, would be most appropriate to advance the knowledge base in this field?

Key findings: The results of the systematic review are mixed, though the findings suggest some support for the premise that single-sex schooling can be helpful. The site visit observers in the eight single-sex school sites found little evidence of substantive modifications to curricula to address the specific needs of either boys or girls, although some teachers who were interviewed provided examples of using support materials specific to the interests of girls. In the eight elementary and middle schools visited, site visitors observed more positive academic and behavioral interactions between teachers and students in the single-sex schools than in the comparison coed schools. Both principals and teachers believed that the main benefits of single-sex schooling are decreasing distractions to learning, and improving student achievement.

Teachers cited greater benefits of single-sex schooling for girls than for boys in 5 of the 10 benefit categories. In separate focus groups, both parents and students cited essentially the same benefits as the teachers and implied that they chose the single-sex school for these reasons. Teachers in single-sex high schools rated problems with student behavior as less serious than teachers in coed schools, but the opposite was true in middle schools. In the 10 case study schools the site visitors observed more positive student interactions for the single-sex schools than for the coed comparison schools. The research team suggests that future research use prior empirical work (both qualitative and quantitative) to identify variables that should be measured and potentially used as statistical controls. The only real drawbacks I discovered was implementation, small school districts do not have enough students to implement single sex schools and the fact that Policies that are going to purposely segregate students by race or gender or income or religion is antithetical to what American public education is supposed to be about, which is to bring children of different backgrounds together. That being said I still would prefer same sex classrooms for my daughter. As for me teaching in that setting? I would prefer teaching males over females.

http://www.singlesexschools.org/evidence.html http://staciel.hubpages.com/hub/Should-We-Have-Single-Sex-Public-Education