Q: Should boys and girls learn together or separately? Are single sex schools anachronisms or contemporary champions of gender equity? While there is no consensus on the value of a single sex education, continued high enrollment in single sex schools, at the threshold of the 21st century, would seem to speak for itself. And yet the end of all-male military training institutes like the Citadel and the Virginia Military Institute raises a number of important questions about the benefits of intermingling the sexes in the classroom.
A: A parent researching potential middle schools or high schools might very much wish to know if the benefits of a single sex education are the same for both genders. In a recent U.S. News and World Report article, ACLU staff attorney Sara Mandlebaum and Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Gen. Josiah Bunting noted that existing research seems to bear out the notion that it is girls and women who derive the most benefit from single sex schools. Mandelbaum went so far as to say that the research with which she was familiar "shows a null effect …for men." Mark Pierotti, principal of San Jose’s all-male Bellarmine College Preparatory School counters that such schools provide exceptional opportunities for boys. "Guys have an opportunity to stay focused and to talk about things in a way they might not be able to with girls there…they speak more from the heart." Students themselves, he says, claim that there are fewer distractions; their social lives really are separate from their academic activities. Pierotti adds that there is a sense of camaraderie and a feeling of belonging amongst boys in a single sex environment. But, he says, the tone of the school can be very "testosterone-driven." It can be difficult to hold that in check and to provide a real-world perspective for the boys.
Similarly, proponents of all-girl schools extol their virtues, though no one mentioned a problem with estrogen overload. Katherine Delmar Burke School is a K-8 institution; head Jessie Lea Hayes sees the value of starting girls in a single sex school early on in their education career. "(Such schools) help girls come into their own by developing their full personality range and academic experiences...they offer especially great advantages in middle school, where girls are just at the age when they begin to lose their voice; we surround them with the impetus to retain it." Advantages cited for girls include the plethora of female role models in the school (amongst visiting alums, on the faculty and amongst peers), personal empowerment and the emerging of a stronger more, confident female self. Rita Gleason, head of Notre Dame High School in Belmont, noted that girls in single sex schools have been shown statistically to enroll in more math and science classes. Some studies have also shown that girls with a single sex education background are ultimately more politically active. While girls from all educational environments are entering formerly male dominated professions like medicine in ever increasing numbers, Ms.Gleason notes that girls schools like hers often expend extra effort raising the consciousness of their students, bringing in successful alumni who are now leaders in the community to ensure role modeling.
Given the benefits highlighted by proponents of single-sex schools, how do parents determine if such an academic environment is in fact the right one for their son or daughter? Administrators universally state that it is the students who need to make the ultimate decision. They say that some parents won’t even look at single sex schools and that even those who do rarely force their son or daughter to enroll; students need to feel comfortable and that the school is a "fit." Ms. Hayes advises parents to recognize their children for who they are and not who they want them to be. School choices need to be made accordingly. She cites special situations which might make a single sex school a particularly appealing choice: a single girl child lost amongst a sea of brothers or the reverse scenario might very well benefit from the single sex program.
But even if your child determines that it is the single sex school she visited that she wants most to attend, it is important to be aware of what ways, if any, such an education might place her at a disadvantage. You might well ask yourself if, without the presence of the opposite sex, is the school a realistic environment for my child? While many schools have joint activities like choir and drama as well as mixed social events with the closest all-male school, clearly opportunities for in-school interaction with the other sex is limited. And as most girls school graduates go on to co-ed universities, are they then properly prepared to learn to interact, compete and collaborate with the opposite sex? Ms. Hayes reflected that co-ed schools might well have a wider range of opinions and behaviors, as well as learning styles; "with only one gender, there is the possibility that some behaviors get exaggerated." For example, she noted that a higher number of girls tend to be perfectionists, abnormally raising the level of expectation amongst them as a group and hence a sense of anxiety and competitiveness. Yet it could certainly be argued that girls in a co-ed environment may be equally competitive - perhaps in response to the boys instead. Mark Pierotti of Bellarmine added that a co-ed environment probably offers a real-world perspective not found in single-gendered schools.
So, are single sex schools still attractive and viable educational options for today’s teenagers? In an increasingly egalitarian United States, aren’t we delivering teens the wrong message by continuing to segregate institutions by gender, albeit private ones? Don’t single sex schools take us back to a more old-fashioned and thus outmoded from of education? The number of single sex schools in the United States has declined significantly, particularly over the last twenty years; similarly, many formerly single sex institutions have gone co-ed, mainly to enhance their economic viability. In the same period of time, a great deal of attention has been paid to equalizing opportunities for girls and women in all domains. Recent research on Catholic single sex high schools in particular corroborates both Ms. Hayes’ and Ms. Gleason’s contentions that girls, more than boys, benefit significantly from a single sex education. And perhaps it is this finding that asserts the continued relevance of single sex education; clearly there are teenagers who will be enriched by the experience and for whom it is an excellent choice.
Copyright © 1998-2002 by Beth Samuelson
