More public schools splitting up boys, girls

[Starry Messenger]

16. It's worse.

The outcomes have been refuted.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/17/single-sex-schools-separate-but-equal/dont-be-tempted-by-single-sex-schools

Don’t Be Tempted

There is little to no data showing that sex separation alone leads to better outcomes. These schools work when class sizes are reasonable, academics are paramount and parents are involved. Gender neutral factors, all.

So, what’s the appeal? Look more closely at the rhetoric. It recalls time worn images of matriarchal black families, emasculated men, perpetually fertile women. For poor people of color, sex segregation is the balm for their supposed pathology. Really?

California’s experiment is telling. Researchers found that separating sexes meant "All Quiet on the Western Front" for boys, "Pride and Prejudice" for girls. Survival skills helped boys learn about Western expansion, while quilt-making was the focus for girls. One spot of equality: neither boys nor girls could take Advanced Placement courses. Investigators concluded that sex segregation might be the next dead-end track for low-achieving students.

So, while the law may permit single-sex schooling in some circumstances, it’s not the magic bullet proponents proclaim. We know what really works and we know what children need, notwithstanding the fact that particulars will vary child by child. Let’s home in on evidence-based strategies and resist the mythic remedy of single-sex education.