LAT: Single-sex classes on a forward course

[DeepModem Mom]

Single-sex classes on a forward course
More schools in L.A. and across the nation separate boys and girls. New federal guidelines extend the leeway.
By Carla Rivera, Times Staff Writer
November 20, 2006

....Single-sex classes and schools — both public and private — are gaining favor across the nation as educators search for ways to boost test scores and students' self-esteem. In 1995, only three public schools in the nation offered a single-sex option, compared with more than 253 today, according to the National Assn. for Single Sex Public Education. Five percent of private schools are single-sex.

In Los Angeles, a new girls-only public charter school opened this fall. Another newly opened charter school in Lincoln Heights has launched one of the first formal experiments in single-sex education, creating separate boys and girls classes with plans to study their test scores, classroom behavior and other achievement yardsticks.

Research has long suggested that girls in coed settings defer to boys and receive less attention from teachers. Other educators cite more recent evidence that boys, especially low-income minority youths, might benefit as well. The gap between girls' and boys' test scores has decreased, and girls are applying in higher numbers to college and now obtain more bachelor's degrees than boys.

A recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Education giving public schools more leeway to offer single-sex curricula will probably accelerate the move toward single-sex classrooms, experts said. Previous rules generally banned single-sex classes, with some exceptions.

The new guidelines, scheduled to take effect Friday, permit single-sex education in public schools but must be geared toward improving achievement, providing diverse experiences or meeting the particular needs of students. Programs must treat male and female students evenhandedly and offer substantially equal coeducational classes in the same subject. Enrollment must be voluntary....

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-singlesex20nov20,0,2873208.story?track=mostemailedlink

[napi21]

1. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I attended an all girls HS, and

I can't think of any downside. I sure can imagine all the distractions in a co-ed class when boyfriend/girlfriend are always trying to impress each other, or flashing google eyes across the classroom all day.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Not popular here I don't think -- but I strongly support single-sex.

I'm most familiar with one girls' school which turns out awesomely strong women.

[Hosnon]

4. I remember being just as worried, and probably more so, about the other sex than the material. nt.

[Hosnon]

3. I tentatively support this idea. I don't see any "separate but equal"

problem because it is equal. Have teacher X teach the boys math first period and then teach the girls math second period...no less equal than teaching group 1 (boys and girls) first period and then teaching group 2 (boys and girls) second period (as is the case today).

This helps take the hormones out of education so schools can - you may want to sit down for this - teach.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. There is no doubt that girls in the classroom

are distracted by and even intimidated by boys.

I'm for it.

I've been talking to my kids about it and they think it's a good idea, too. The boys say the girls are "annoying and talk too much." The girls pick up on that and it inhibits them.

[xchrom]

6. lol -- this will surprise a few ithink -- i'm for sex separate education.

and i'm for uniforms.