The article from MSNBC.com offers a look at one school that has had outstanding success with single sex classrooms. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia is one of “223 public schools in the United States that offer single sex classrooms. This number up from only four schools in 1998″ (msnbc.com). At the time the article was written in 2006, Martin Luther King, Jr. had had separated classrooms for “three years with over 400 sixth and seventh grade students participation” (msnbc.com).
Another success story in this article is about Woodward Elementary in Deland, Florida. During the 2005-2006 school year, “fourth graders were randomly assigned to either a single sex classroom or a co-ed one. In Woodward’s co-ed classrooms, 57 percent of girls and 37 percent of boys passed a state writing test. In the single sex classes, 75 percent of girls and 86 percent of boys passed” (msnbc.com). This is definitely a huge increase, but does this work for everyone?
That is one of the questions being asked by protesters, such as the American Association of University Women. Groups like these are also saying “single sex classrooms distract from the real problems in schools and would throw out the most basic legal standards prohibiting sex discrimination in education” (msnbc.com). Others say there is not enough research and there are other ways to fix the urgent matter of achievement gaps.
This is a very touchy issue that has recently surfaced. Hopefully, this article will supply you with a bit more knowledge of the topic of single sex classrooms in order to help you take your own stance.
“More schools test single-sex classrooms.” Msnbc.com 6 July 2006. Associated Press. 21 June 2009 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13229488/ns/us_news-education/>.
