An experiment in single-sex classrooms that started two years ago at Carman Trails school in the Prkway School district is winning over parents, students and teachers. And even though the school doesn't have test data to prove its success, the program is growing. Last year, the school limited the same-sex classrooms to first grade. This year, it started them in second grade. And just last week, after meeting with enthusiastic parents, the teachers and principal, Chris Raeker decided to offer the option in third grade.
The U.S. Department of Education noted in 2005 that the jury was still out on the effectiveness of same-gender classrooms, due to "a dearth of quality studies" on the topic. But a lack of data hasn't slowed the popularity of the approach, which has been triggered by recent research that suggests the brains of boys and girls develop differently at young ages.
What is your opinion of single-sex classrooms? What do you see as the student benefits? Do you see any drawbacks to this approach? Please comment.
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ReplyDeleteAt first when I heard the term single-sex classrooms I was not very pleased. All I could think about was how the world is so focused on equality and yet here we are segregating our children purposely. I feel like it almost teaches them to be different and not recognize the similarities in humans as a whole. But then as we discussed it a little more I started thinking of the benefits it could possibly hold. If there really is a gender gap in the way the brain learns, then maybe seperating children into their groups can be beneficial to their educational intake. Either way, I still think I must disagree with the seperation because it is very stereotypical and I see it creating many problems.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this program I was torn. I agree that their is a gender gap between boys and girls and the way they learn. But do we need to separate them into single-sex classrooms. Will girls and boys feel more comfortable in a single-sex classroom? Only time will tell. I feel that if it is good for the child and if they thrive in that environment then it is a great thing. I don't agree with angela roehrs that it is stereotypical and could cause problems. That is not what this program is about and every classroom has its problems. Either way, I still think that if a child thrives in a certain environment who are we to tell them they can't be in that environment.
ReplyDeleteI think that boys and girls develop differant but i also think that it is great for the classroom to be diverse. Everyone can learn from each other and know that everyone is differant but that doesn't make anyone better. I don't know if i like this idea or not. In a like gender classroom the teacher could make activities that would gear more toward that gender. This could be beneficial for students.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that this is a good idea but, there should be a time where the students have time together. We want our studnets with special needs to be in a diverse classroom, so why not do the same with boys and girls. I do feel that it is good for the boys and girls to be seperated for some of the classes but, not all classes. Students learn from eachother and they need that time to interact with one another. I do see more drawbacks than benifits from this approach. Doing this type of class setting could also cause more steriotypes as well, and there are times when boys and girls are better at things that we think they might not be good at. I also think that parents and students should have a choice for what type of classroom they want to be in.
ReplyDeleteThe jury is still out in my opinion of single-sex classrooms as well. I can see that this approach may help students academically, but I'm wondering what the social costs of this approach may be. If we keep the genders separate, will the students suffer in the form of being able to respond to and interact with the opposite sex? Will it foster even more competition between the sexes? We've come a long way in desegregation in this country. I'm not sure that this is the step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI know that educators are constantly feeling the pressures of all of the high-stakes tests, and I think this is another attempt to raise the scores without thinking of future consequences, similar to schools cutting science and social studies activities and other arts programs.
Do I believe that there is some truth that students of different genders learn differently? Yes. Do I think it is important for students to get the best opportunities to learn at their fullest? Yes. With that being said, same gender classrooms may be a great approach to increase student engagement and learning. However, schools then need to brainstorm ways for the students to have social interactions that are meaningful and productive.
It is our task to educate students. Academics are NOT the only education young people need. We need healthy development in social skills as well. Having anti-social adults running around is not productive, even if those anti-social adults are the most intelligent this country has seen.
It is a toss up for me regarding single-sex classrooms. Boys and Girls do learn differently according to research. Boys do better with different teaching strategies than girls do. However, what about the girl who does better with the teaching strategies that are being used in the boys classroom? I think that the research on boys and girls is not true in all situations. Classrooms should include diverse teaching strategies. It is up to the educator to provide the best learning opportunities for the students. If the best that we can give is single-sex classroom, then lets do this. Especially if the children are doing very well academically. However, I agree with Angie when it comes to social skills. If students are in a classroom with the same gender, how will they learn how to interact with the other gender? When do we stop putting children in single-sex classrooms? Third grade? Fourth grade? Fifth grade? Then when you take the children out of the single-sex classroom, they will not know how to interact with the other sex in the classroom and in social settings. We need to give children an opportunity to socialize and interact with the other sex. Could we try having a single-sex classroom for only part of the day when they children need the seperation based on learning styles? Could we allow the children to be in the same class for the other subjects that aren't so different in learning styles? Like I said at the beginning, it is a toss up for me, but what I believe is that we need to do what is best for the students.
ReplyDeleteI'm also kind of on the fence about this. I am a huge advocate for teaching little life lessons everyday in my classroom. I believe my class should be academically based with life lessons all around them. With that being said socialization is a huge lesson children need to learn at a young age. I think teaching children to get along with each other is very important so they are ready to get along with each other in the real world. it teaches them to communicate with each other without being akward or scared. so having boys and girls seperated does a not allow a teacher to do that exept on the playground where the students will probably only play with the people who are in their class because they are comfortable with them.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a boy learns like a girl, does he get to switch into the girls class? and if he does wouldn't the boys make fun of him if he does? I think this would cause a bullying problem and if he isn't getting switched over i think it would be unfair that he is stuck with the boys even though he learns like a girl. Also if one parent does not like this approach do they get to send their child to a different school? Or are they stuck at that school? I think a good teacher individualizes thier lessons anyway. So if a good teacher is in the classroom they will teach to both boys needs and girls needs every chance they get. So after actually thinking about it i do not think i have enough information to make an educated decision on this topic but with the information i have i think it is a bad idea. i think a single-sex class approach could work if it was a charter school or a private school so parents and teacher can choose if they want to send their child or if they want to teach at a school like that.
I think there are both benefits and drawbacks to having single sex classrooms. I feel that in the elementary level classrooms, there really is no benefit to separating the children by their sex. As the students mature, however, I think it is very beneficial. Once students become hormonal, they spend a great deal of time focused on the opposite sex. This is more common when they are in the same room together. I don't think that students in this situation are focusing and learning to the best of their abilities. I think that it should be optional however. The goal of educating students is to prepare them for the real world as adults, and to give them all the "tools" they will need to succeed in their life. In the real world, people are not separated by their sex. They all work together in an office, hospital, whatever and have to learn to deal with each other. For that reason, I do not believe there is much benefit to separating students by their sex.
ReplyDeleteBenefits: the classroom can be geared more towards the gender in it, such as lessons, activities, and even the way the classroom is set up. Students don't have to worry about impressing students of the opposite sex (this isn't a huge issue yet, but it still happens at a young age). It would be easier to form a community within the classroom because the students will have more in common.
ReplyDeleteSetbacks: the students are experiencing something that doesn't reflect the real world- they need to learn how to deal with all people, not just people of the same sex.
If schools decide to integrate same-sex classrooms into the school, they need to offer classes of both types. The parents should get to decide if their child will be in a same-gender class or mixed-gender class.
I beleive the first step to be taken before the widespread implementation of single gender classrooms is research. We must discover whether the general learning differences between males and females are significant enough to take this drastic step. Would the potential learning benefits outweigh the potential socialization issues? I firmly beleive that studnets benefit from working with students of varying abilities and levels, and by taking them out of a diverse classroom, I beleive they would be greatly disadvantaged in the real world.
ReplyDeleteWhile thinking about the challenges that single-sex classrooms could pose, I am reminded of a story I recently heard from an elementary principal: There was a male student(I beleive a 2nd grader) in his building who wore female clothing and went by a different female name. His mother allowed him to go by this other name and expressed to school officials that he always acted more like a girl and she was willing to let him act like one. Special accomodations were made to allow this student to use the faculty restroom to avoid confusion in the student restrooms. He interacted with the other female students as one of them, and the building was forced to treat him as such. While this is a rare occurrence, the world is changing and this could become much more common in the future. How would a school with single-sex classrooms deal with this type of situation? Something as drastic as separating children by gender in the classroom shoud not be done lightly. I believe all avenues should be considered and potential problems addressed before schools begin implementing single gender classrooms.
I would really like to see more data that shows proof of a benefit to separating girls and boys. My first reaction was that this would not be a good idea but thinking about how it could impact their learning makes me want more information. I think if the could find a way to still have the kids interact in other activities then it might not be so bad. I do not think it is necessary to separate girls and boys totally and I think interaction between them is needed. We all have to coexist together and just because we may learn differently does not mean we can't learn from each other. If feel for the teachers who have all boys - just kidding.
ReplyDeleteI know that the research says that boys and girls learn differently. As a matter of fact the research seems to indicate that males and females are just wired differently in many aspects. And for that we should be happy - we need both points of view in the world.But, I also know research. For a study to be published and considered valid it only has to have a statically signifigant difference.
ReplyDeleteSo, it is likely that there are still plenty of girls who are wired somewhat like boys and visa versa. I know several girls around 7 or 8 right now who play on boys basketball teams and seem to make easier connections with the boys in their classes. This doesn't mean they do not learn like girls. It just means we do not know everything about every child. Like the boy mentioned above - these "tomboys" could be expossed to a lot of social pressure to conform to the girl style.
I am also worried that this kind of seperation might end up taking some of the progress women have made in MATH and science away from them. If you are a female who never did as well in math as the boys, you might teach math differently than if you knew you had boys to teach also.
We can't deny that there are deep rooted roles built into our society.If my daughter or son was in a same sex classroom I would like some guarantee that they would have equal exposure to all content areas including the social experiences. I am not sure that is possible. All of that being said, if it is working for the people involved I hope that the results have a life long positive effect.
lmx2mom is Vicki Martin - sorry
ReplyDeleteI'm torn on this issue because I can see many benefits as well as many drawbacks regarding single-sex classrooms. I think that seperating girls from boys could potentially provide students with better concentration, especially as they get older and start becoming distracted by the opposite sex. In regards to girls and boys learning at different rates, I can see how seperating them would be a good idea because it would ensure that all students were learning at an equal rate. However, I feel like by seperating boys from girls you are taking away a part of every day life. I think that girls and boys learn to be social at a very young age and by secluding them early, we could take away from certain behavioral characteristics that they are trying to develop.
ReplyDeleteI am unsure about the same sex classrooms. I agreee with Angie and the others that separating boys and girls will cause problems soically. They will not know how to interact with the opposite sex. I don't think that in the long run the same sex classrooms will work. We are including children with disabilities in the classroom, but dividing boys and girls. I think that the students all learn from one another. The smarter ones help out the ones that are a little behind.
ReplyDeleteI need to see some more research about these classrooms. I know that they do this in the charter schools and it seems to work. My friend works in a charter school and teaches a class of second grade boys. She says that it is a lot better when they are separated.
I feel like there would be many positive and negative effects to this new idea. children could possibly be able to thrive academically, but what about the social aspect? There are many all boy and all girl high schools that have graduated extremely successful students, but i think having a diverse classroom is vital to the success of a young person. Plus, if a student grows up being segregated, that just gives a reason for boys to think they are better than girls, and vice versa. Why put that kind of stereotype in a child's mind?
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of single-sex/single-gender classrooms causes me to focus on the positive advantages and negative disadvantages of the setting. Gender separation can serve as a strategy to eliminate distractions such as dating, social pursuits, and sometimes peer-pressure. On the other hand, single-gender education could be looked upon as a dangerous drawback step to segregation. Single-gender education could benefit students by challenging them to focus better. By applying this method gives each gender an opportunity to speak liberally without fear of being embarrassed by the opposite sex. (scae)
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to teach a single-sex classroom one year. I remember being quite nervous about it, but really enjoyed the year. I was amazed at how I had fewer classroom management issues to deal with. I was able to accomplish a lot academically and stretch the students a little further. Even though I had a good experience I am not sure if it is the answer or solution for all children. I am not sure what I think about taking variety out of the classroom. I enjoy a classroom full of variety and I do feel single-sex classrooms take variety away. I am quite worried about the social aspect it has on the children. I found that students were a lot less patient with the opposite sex by not being exposed to them in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel, we need more research before the implementation of single-sex classrooms. I agree with most of the advatages and disadvatages that have been listed for single-sex classrooms. When I first read this question one of the first things that came to my mind was what Maria already stated. We want our students with special needs (who also learn differently) to be in a diverse classroom because they can benefit socially and from learning from the other students so why do we need to seperate boys and girls because they learn differently? You can have a classroom of all girls and you will still find different learning styles. Should we then divide classrooms based on students learning styles?
ReplyDeleteI know Tassie was making a joke about feeling sorry for the teacher with all boys but I was going to say that too. I have a preschool class of 4yr olds (I know they are younger)but I couldn't teach that class if it was all boys! I really think the girls and boys create a good balance.
I guess this article doesn't surprise me all that much. There are many same-sex parochial schools that are following this exact same format, that seem to hold higher expectations; in order to receive an "A", at least a 93% was required, instead of a 90% that is normally found in public schools. It was only a matter of time before people started trying this at an elementary level.
ReplyDeleteI understand that there are developmental differences in boys and girls, but I'm still not sold on same-sex classrooms (could you imagine having a classroom full of girls, no thanks!) I think there needs to be a lot more research and evidence before I'd ever consider supporting this.
After reading this article and comments above, I will have to agree with Allie Michener when she says, "I guess this article doesn't surprise me all that much." While males and females develop differently, our classrooms still need to have diversity. Where is the diversity in single-sex classrooms???!! As a future educator, I feel that students, especially at the elementary level, need to placed in a socializing environment with children of all genders, ethnicities, and cultures. Integration is how students learn to accept one another for who they are. What kind of message do you think these children are gaining from these secluded classrooms?? I just think the idea is absurd. The only thing that these students are developing is rivalry/competition for the other gender.
ReplyDeleteLindsay Vollmar
I think that this could be a great idea splitting up girls and boys but not in a public school setting. Public schools are said to not segregate, everyone should be allowed to have an equal opportunity to succeed. If these all boy and all girl classes are doing so well, why isn't the WHOLE school allowed to participate? I think this could be a great idea, if the data can show it's working, because girls and boys do learn things at different paces and have strengths in certain areas. I just feel as though students are going to be seen as "different" because they are in those classes and not like the rest of the school. Also, I think that this could be a disadvantage to those children participating in these classrooms because as they get older sometime or another those students will be put into a classroom that is combined and may not know how to react, this could be a huge set back for those children.
ReplyDeletei can see how this would work and be a great idea since boys learn different from girls. I think that there will be a social set back due to this i feel that children need early interactions with each other especailly with children that are differnt to help them grow.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is a good idea to split boys and girls in separate classroom. I think that the students will not get a good idea of how the real world works. Without teaching boys and girls together they may not understand that boys having a different way of learning. If we focus so much on helping each gender then the students will be expected to learn a certain way and when they reach jr. high or high school may have difficulties learning. Also, the students will not get the experience of socializing with the opposite sex. Plus we encourage diversity and this is not a diverse classroom. We should bring students with different cultures, races, and genders together so the students can experience what learning is like with different people.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with separating boys and girls. If parents wanted to send their children to a school that had same sex classrooms they could. Also I feel that at this young age children need that interaction with the opposite sex to help them grow mentally and intellectually. If the students get used to being in the classroom with only girls or with only boys what happens when you take them out of that environment? Will their grades suffer? Also, if this actually does improve their work why is it that some children can reap the benefits and others cannot? I think we need to be encouraging diversity and that includes bringing together both genders and learning from each other. I feel like this experiment is denying the children of areas where they should be growing.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I have both positive and negative feelings on the issue. Like many people have said above, boys and girls do learn different. So on one hand, seperating the boys and girls would be great and even cause them to excell and do wonderful. But on the other hand I would think that later on in life it might cause them some problems. For example, if they are not around the opposite sex they will really have no social skills with them. So that would kind of cause problems with dating and hanging out with the opposite sex. Now that is not everything, but imagine how left out a child would feel if all their friends had dates, but they really didn't know how to get one.
ReplyDeleteI just think that seperating boys and girls in the classroom is something that needs to be up to the parents. I think that everyone has their own opinions that are important to them.
The subject of the blog will continue to be debated for a while. Many people feel that by having single sex classrooms it will decrease the number of distractions. Other people will say that for older children (4th grade and above) it will impact them socially in a negative way. It's hard for me to jump onto either bandwagon because there are not a lot of facts that support either direction. I would say that I am on the side of against it because I know as a child growing up I enjoyed having a variety of people in the classroom. If we start to group children because of their sex, then they can start grouping according to intelligence or race.
ReplyDeleteI will have to agree with Allie Michener and LCV300 when they said, "I guess this article doesn't surprise me all that much." I agree with the fact that boys and girls learn differently but dividing classes is much deeper then the sex of a student. If you wan to raise academics by dividing, classrooms should be divided by how the students learn. A classroom for visual learners, a classroom for gifted, a classroom for the slow learners, a classroom for ADHD, a classroom for hearing impaired and etc. Just imagine a school that in each grade level there were enough teachers in the world to teach classes like these. Imagine what advantage students would have. All of the teacher would be teaching the same thing but the lesson plans would be catered to the way the student learns. Of course some girls and boys may benefit from being in a same sexed class, but other may be more comfortable in a diverse class because that’s what they grew up around. The worlds is based around being diverse, so to have a child sheltered in a classroom full of the same sex, they would be missing out on different experience other students have.
ReplyDeleteI believe that our society as a whole usually tries to group people. Boys and girls, men and women, third graders and kindergartners, when simply we are all human beings who learn at different levels and speeds. Children develop at very different levels throughout their entire life physically, mentally, socially, moraly, and spiritually. It is not our job to focus on one aspect of a person in this case a child, but to see all their special gifts no matter what developmental level they are. Teach the children on their developmental levels and quit trying to make everyone normal, because they are all unique individuals. In my opinion we should not cater to differences, but teach our children how we are all truly alike.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above post.
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