Rules ease restrictions on single-sex schools
Bush administration describes them as tools; critics see segregation
Single-sex classroomsOct. 25: In schools that have divided classes based on gender, grades shot up, and disciplinary problems fell. It was enough evidence to make the Education Department approve divided classrooms, even whole schools, in the public system nationwide. NBC's Martin Savidge reports.
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is giving public schools wider latitude to teach boys and girls separately in what is considered the biggest change to coed classrooms in more than three decades.
After a two-year wait, the Education Department issued final rules Tuesday detailing how it will enforce the Title IX landmark anti-discrimination law. Under the change taking effect Nov. 24, local school leaders will have discretion to create same-sex classes for subjects such as math, a grade level or even an entire school.
“Some students may learn better in single-sex education environments,” said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. “These final regulations permit communities to establish single-sex schools and classes as another means of meeting the needs of students.”
This article really threw me for a loop. I could not imagine teaching to a single-sex class. I feel like it is not an accurate representation of society. I am interested to know what your thoughts are-let me know!
How could single-sex classrooms affect education? Pros? Cons? What is your opinion? How would this change the future of education or society? Is this really 'meeting the needs' of students?
9 comments:
I was just as shocked as you when reading this article, Ali. As I read the section of the article that’s on the blog, it read “Some students may learn better in single-sex education environments,” said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. “These final regulations permit communities to establish single-sex schools and classes as another means of meeting the needs of students.” The part that caught my eye was the very beginning where it says "some students". I guess I would be a little more open to this idea if it impacted more than just "some" students. Having single sex classrooms may help some students, but what is the problem with the way classrooms are set up today? This would have an effect on students in other ways than academically. They need to socialize, interact, and work with the opposite sex, etc. I don't feel that changing classrooms would "meet the needs" of the student as a whole. There are already schools for girls or schools for boys that exist. If parents feel that their child would learn best from that type of environment, it is already an option. I think students will struggle later on in life if they are put in classrooms that are strictly single sex all day. If schools want to try this, they should try having one class start out single sex, and see what the effects are then go from there.
Ok so after all we have talked about in our class with diversity and gender roles I think this was a great subject for the blog. I could not even imagine what it would be like to teach a single sex classroom. I was always brought up knowing about and being taught about classrooms that were mixed with both females and males. The point that Katie brought up about how only some students would benefit is a great thing to bring up. I mean if we think about it only some students benefit from everything. For example there may be a classroom where the teacher just reads from the text book. Yes only some students would benefit from that where as other students would disagree. Although that doesn't mean we have to create a classroom where students want to use only textbooks. I think both girls and boys need to know how to work with each other. In the real world it is most important that people know how to work with each other. What would our world be like if only the males talked to males and females to females? I actually talked to my mentor in 8th grade about the topic and she has been teaching for 10 years and loved it. She brought up a point with my class that made me slightly change my mind. In my science class the majority of girls have better grades than the boys. However, the girls are not getting the best grades possible according to my teacher. She said if she took all of another 8th graders boys and that teacher took the girls that the girls would pay more attention. She thinks the girls in my class tend to participate less because they are always talking with the boys. As for the boys she said she knows they are capable of getting better grades but she thinks they are too distracted with talking to the girls. She said it may benefit them not only in grades but also in participation. I just don't know how I feel about having every class split up. I don't think that teaching students all split up makes them look equal to each other.
I can see positives and negatives to both sides of the controversy, but the biggest issue that makes me against same sex classrooms is that students would be loosing out on socialization and collaboratively working with students of the opposite sex. Like Caroline mentioned, school is meant to prepare them for their future and in their future they will be working with a variety of men and women.
My cousin goes to Regina Dominican High School, which is a Catholic all girls school, and while I know that private schools hold different beliefs and morals I thought it would be interesting to hear what my aunt and cousin thought about same sex classrooms. My cousin (who is 16) said that she didn’t like it at first but it is nice to not have to worry about getting all dressed up for class because she doesn’t have any boys to impress. I asked her if she thought she would be distracted if she had boys in her class, and she said that she didn’t think she would be but the girls might fight over the boys. My aunt said that in high school she thinks that students benefit from same sex classrooms because they have outside lives and can socialize with friends (guys and girls) after school. She also noted that while academic classes are all girls, the school has a brother school and they hold social gatherings with them. After I asked her about elementary and middle schools having same sex classrooms she said that younger students should be in co-ed classrooms because they aren’t as experienced at collaborative work and that they need to gain this social foundation before going to same sex classrooms (to heavily concentrate on curriculum.)
I had no idea that this idea was actually being considered. I do not think of this as being appropriate for our students. Why do students need to be segregated in the first place? Part of growing up is learning to work with other people of different races, interests and sexes. Why should we take the opportunity for students to work with others of the opposite sex away? Boys and girls may learn differently, but there is no reason that their differences can't help one another. Another thing I don't understand is why the Bush administration thinks that single sex classrooms would be alright for elementary and secondary education classrooms, but not follow through with college. By secluding boys from girls, and girls from boys, I think that this could create a bad situation when they are around each other at college. In my opinion I do not think this would help to prepare the students any more than a co-ed education would. I think that single sex classrooms would hurt our students more than help them.
Wow, single sex classrooms. As a teacher, I couldn't imaging teaching a class of all girls or all boys. I always pictured single sex classrooms as a boarding school, military, or parochial school invention reserved for societies elite. However, I can definitely see the benefits as well as the faults of such classrooms. My immediate thought is to consider which age the classrooms would be implemented it. Middle school and high school would benefit more from single sex classrooms because that is the age where hormones start to surge and where the opposite sex would be quite distracting to the students. I don't think that single sex classrooms would be as much of a benefit to elementary classrooms. Ultimately I believe that same sex classrooms would have more faults that benefits. While the opposite sex could be quite distracting, the benefits of interacting with peers and the different perspectives brought to discussions would be worth the distraction. Also, social development is as important as intellectual development both of which should be cultivated in the school environment.
I agree with what everyone has been saying. I was also shocked by the notion of single sex classrooms in public schools. I feel that it is important for boys and girls to learn to work together and socialize because like Caroline said, school is preparing them for life. When you grow up it is more likely than not that you will be working with members of the opposite sex and if you have not done this very much it could make it difficult.
I also see a point in what Molly had said about middle school and high school having single sex classrooms, but only if they were mixed throughout elementary school. In that case they may have less distractions from opposite classmates which could improve learning. However, I feel that it could cause there to be less of a difference of opinions and perspectives on different issues. I feel that there are more cons than pros to single sex classrooms, and I believe it is more beneficial to have coed classes.
As soon as I saw this post on the blog, I immediately had a flashback to my high school days. I attended a Catholic co-ed high school, but several of my friends attended single sex schools such as Immaculate Heart of Mary, Brother Rice, St. Joes, and Marist. A lot of the girls that I knew that attended these single sex schools said they could focus better and were not distracted by the boys in the classroom. All the single sex boys schools that I can think of were excellent at sports, especially basketball, which is why many of the boys that I knew made the choice to go to these schools. I think that there are pros and cons. St Joe's and IHM were brother/sister schools which meant some of the elective classes became co-ed. This gave the students the best of both worlds. For their core classes they were separated, but they were combined for the elective classes that were offered to them, which wasn't many because of the fact that these were private schools. I do not think the idea is totally outrageous as long as the students are offered a choice.I can see this becoming an issue if students are forced into single sex classrooms, because they might be doing something that could in all reality hinder their learning ability. Some students learn better with different perspectives. I guess this isn't as shocking for me because these single sex schools have always been in the picture for me. I have always known about them.
I think that single sex classrooms can be very detrimental to students. Social interactions with different sexes is a part of life. The country focuses so much on how marriage needs to be between a man and a women, yet now the question is if there should be interactions in a classroom between a boy and a girl. It does not seem to make sense to me. How are boys and girls supposed to have positive interactions if they are separated in the classroom? I think turning into a single sex classroom, takes an important part of diversity out of the classroom. Diversity is something that has become something to celebrate in the classroom, so why take it away?
School is not all about content. Students learn many different life lessons, such as how to interact with a variety of people. I think that making classrooms single sex, will only eliminate that interaction. I understand that sex-ed is important to have introduced as a single sex classroom, to keep embarrassment to a limit. However I believe that as students get older, sex-ed should be taught to both sex classrooms, because it is important to learn about both male and female issues that can affect them in the future. Content areas need to be taught the same way to each student, regardless of sex, from a young age. My fear if single sex classrooms pass, is what is next? Is there then going to be classrooms based on race or religion? It think it is ridiculous to separate classrooms based on differences one student may have from another.
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