Single-sex Education - Effects of Single-sex Education

Effects of Single-sex Education

The topic of single-sex education is controversial. Advocates argue that it aids student outcomes such as test scores, graduation rates, and solutions to behavioral difficulties. Opponents, however, argue that evidence for such effects is inflated or non-existent, and instead argue that such segregation can lead to increased prejudice and cost students social skills.

Advocates of single-sex education believe that there are persistent gender differences in how boys and girls learn and behave in educational settings, and that such differences merit educating them separately. One version of this argument holds that brains of males and females develop differently. Proponents reference these developmental differences to argue that by separating students according to sex, the educator is able to meet the needs according to the developmental trajectory of the different genders.

A systematic review published in 2005 covering 2221 studies was commissioned by the US Department of Education entitled Single-sex versus coeducational schooling: A systematic review. The review, which had statistical controls for socio-economic status of the students and resources of the schools, etc., found that the results of studies on the effects of single-sex schooling "are equivocal. There is some support for the premise that single-sex schooling can be helpful, especially for certain outcomes related to academic achievement and more positive academic aspirations. For many outcomes, there is no evidence of either benefit or harm. There is limited support for the view that single-sex schooling may be harmful or that coeducational schooling is more beneficial for student." It also said that "In general, most studies reported positive effects for SS schools on all-subject achievement tests," and "The preponderance of studies in areas such as academic accomplishment (both concurrent and long term) and adaptation or socioemotional development (both concurrent and long term) yields results lending support to SS schooling." The quantitative data itself “finds positive results are three to four times more likely to be found for single sex schools than for coeducational schools in the same study for both academic achievement and socio-emotional development,” said Cornelius Riordan, one of the directors of the research.

In 2008, the US government sponsored another study, Early Implementation of Public Single-Sex Schools: Perceptions and Characteristics, which listed the benefits of single-sex schools : (1) Decreases distractions in learning, (2) Reduces student behavior problems, (3) Provides more leadership opportunities, (4) Promotes a sense of community among students and staff, (5) Improves student self-esteem, (6) Addresses unique learning styles and interests of boys or girls, (7) Decreases sex bias in teacher-student interactions, (8) Improves student achievement, (9) Decreases the academic problems of low achieving students, (10) Reduces sexual harassment among students, (11) Provides more positive student role models, (12) Allows for more opportunities to provide social and moral guidance, (13) Provides choice in public education.

The Teachers College Record published a study in 2009 that showed that in majority of cases, the effect of the interaction between boys and girls has resulted in less homework done, less enjoyment of school, lower reading and math scores.

In September 2011, the journal Science published a study deeply critical of the evidence behind positive effects of gender segregation in schooling, arguing that the movement towards single-sex education "is deeply misguided, and often justified by weak, cherry-picked, or misconstrued scientific claims rather than by valid scientific evidence." The study goes on to conclude that "there is no well-designed research showing that single-sex (SS) education improves students' academic performance, but there is evidence that sex segregation increases gender stereotyping and legitimizes institutional sexism."

Opponents of single-sex education, including the authors of the Science article referenced above, argue that it is not single-sex education that is producing positive results with students but rather it is the motivation of the teacher and the resources that are available. There is a lack of quality research in the field to attribute success to single-sex schooling rather than extraneous factors. They believe that by having a single-sex school the children are not prepared for the real world, where they would need to communicate with members of the opposite sex. They argue that coeducational schools break down sexist attitudes through interaction with the opposite sex. Other opponents of single-sex education also argue that it is coeducational schools create a feeling of safety and a sense of mutual respect.

Leonard Sax, the President of National Association for Single-sex Public Education or NASSPE countered the Science article by saying that "ALL the studies cited in the SCIENCE article regarding 'negative impacts' were in fact studies involving a small number of PRE-SCHOOL students attending a COED pre-kindergarten" (capitalized letters in the original). He further said that "these authors provide no evidence for their substantive claim that 'gender divisions are made even more salient in SS settings.' In fact, this conjecture has been tested, and proven false, in multiple studies." Sax cited a study which said that "girls in the all-girls classroom were less aware of 'being a girl' and less aware of gender stereotypes regarding science, compared to girls who were randomly assigned to the coed classroom."

In January 2012, a study of the University of Pennsylvania was published, involving a randomized experiment, considered the experiment with the highest level of scientific evidence. The data comes from schools in Korea, where a law was passed randomly assigning students to schools in their district. The study by Park, Berhman and Choi titled Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools concluded that "“Attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools rather than attending coeducational schools is significantly associated with higher average scores.”