Separating Boys and Girls at School
This AP story shows how in a school where freshmen and sophomores are separated by gender test scores—and motivation levels—are up.
"We've seen huge, huge increases in test scores," said [Principal Alisha] Kiner, who presented the data this fall at the National Association for Single Sex Public Education's international conference.
The story examines how advocates of gender-specific classes say boys and girls are interested in different things, and separating them can make it easier to tap into both groups' potential. However, they also warn against perpetuating stereotypes, like teaching girls math with shopping analogies and boys with football metaphors.
Here's another story about another school in Arkansas that's experimenting with single-gender classes, although those students are younger, and the program is in its beginning stages.
Whether boys and girls learn differently came up on Motivation Matters back in June, and one commenter referred me to this lengthy and in-depth article from the New York Times Magazine about teaching girls and boys separately.
