Rock County Schools To Implement Single-Sex Classes
More Than 260 Public Schools Offer Single-Sex Education In U.S.
POSTED: 4:10 pm CDT May 18, 2007
MADISON, Wis. -- It's a controversial move to some, but a Rock County
school is moving forward with plans for single-sex classes.
Starting next fall, Janesville's Marshall Middle School will have
single-sex classes for its eighth-graders. The school said that parents
for more than a third of its students agreed to enroll their teenagers in
single-sex classes for core subjects like science, language arts, math and
reading.
The Beloit School District also said it will teach single-sex classes for
some of its elementary and middle school students beginning next fall.
There are now more than 260 public schools in the United States offering
some form of single-sex education. Four of those schools are in Wisconsin,
WISC-TV reported.
Sophomore Jake Bryngelson is a student in one of four classes testing this
new educational experiment at Arrowhead High School.
"I walked in, and there were no girls in the room, and I was kind of
surprised by it. And then I found out that my mom put me in the all boys'
class," Bryngelson said.
While most students that WISC-TV spoke with said the split classes were
fun, some said they hope to enroll in co-ed classes next year.
Supporters of the practice said that the science behind the single-sex
classes is based in basic physiological differences.
One such example involved hearing. Supporters said that girls have much
more sensitive hearing than boys and that an instructor's tone and volume
in the classroom could be interpreted differently.
Supporters also point to personality differences, saying that girls are
likely to be excessively critical in evaluating academic performance.
Proponents said that a split classroom helps focus the needs of each
gender.
But the findings are facing criticism from groups like the ACLU and a
local psychology professor.
"My overall reaction is that it's a risky fad in education that hasn't
been evaluated, and we shouldn't be leaping into it," said Janet Hyde, a
psychology and gender studies professor at University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Hyde said she questions the effectiveness of single-sex classrooms and
said it merely creates more inequities.
"Why should a little boy who's perfectly well behaved have to go into the
classroom with the ruffians who are the other boys? So, sort on the basis
of relevant characteristic, not on the basis of gender," Hyde said.
Hyde said the only way split classrooms might work is if the federal
government sets standards and monitors the schools to make sure the
classes for both girls and boys were equal.
Title IX banned gender discrimination but the 2002 No Child Left Behind
Act allows funding for same-sex education, WISC-TV reported.
http://www.channel3000.com/education/13349137/detail.html
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