Why Florida Wants To Expand Single- Gender Classes ‘A handful of public schools in Florida have either allgiss or all-boys classrooms. More could be coming. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, is behind a bill that would have one school in each school district offer only single sex classes, The proposed legislation would create a pilot project in designated districts for two years. “With the idea that children all learn differently, ths is a way that we can provide those parents ~ that don't hhave the resources to send their students toa private school or a parochial school that has a gender specific setting — a local public school where they have access to it,” Diaz said. A handful of public schools around the state already have single sex classrooms. ‘Ldon't know that parents should have the opportunity to give their students an inferior education,” said ACLU strategist Allie Bohim."“Many of the programs are based on and perpetuate gender stereatypes, which limit opportunities for boys and girls alike.” “That's intresting because the research actually shows the opposite,” said Dr. Lisa Damour, a psychologist who directs the Conte for Research on Girls at an all-grls private school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, She's ‘written several Books on education and child development and says more opportunities exist for both sexes when they're seperated. “Ifyou put boys and girls ina classroom and you bring out science materials, consistently the boys will get their hands on those materials and stat working with them and experimenting with them while the girls will standin th background reading the instructions," Damour said. “But if the boys are not in the classroom, the girls are the ones with their hands on the materials. She also says the boys are more likely to be interested in foreign languages and drama when girls are not ‘around. Students at Ferrell Gitls Preparatory Academy, a public middle school in Tampa, say they've been able to do more in an allgiel setting, not less. “I actually went toa coed school last year, and 1 find that there was a lot more drama at the coed schools,” said seventh grader tena Postlewait. “We're able to go out and try new things and experiment with new sports and know that we can do the seme things that boys can do,” Jackson said. “We don’t have to hold back because we're thinking that we ‘can’t do what boys ean do.” ‘Tho National Association for Single Sex Public Education says students in gender specific classes score higher on standardized tests and are more likely to goto a four-year college. On the other hand, Setence ‘magazine says there’s no good research showing better academic performance. At Bond Elementary School in Tallahassee, whore most of the kids are minorities from low-income families, fourth grade teacher Brandon Clayton says the all male classes are about more than academics. “There are some things that our students need educationally, but there are some things that they also need socially,” Clayton said. “I believe atthe school it’s our job to do both.” Clayton says he’s able to have ‘conversations with the boys that wouldn’t happen in a coed environment — about things like hygiene. “You know, it's nothing to walk into Mr. Dawson's (second grade boys) class sometimes and it smell like ccora chips and feet,” said Bond Principal Brandy Tyler- McIntosh, “But they're learning. They're engaged.” Bond hopes to offer all-girl classes soon, to.Research on Same-Gender Grouping in Bighth Grade Science Classrooms Faimess in education lies at the heart of the debate over same-gender education. Shor and Freire (1987) ‘wrote,"... through education, we can first understand power in society. We can throw light on the power relations made opaque by the dominant class, We can also prepare and participate in programs to change society" (pp. 31-32). The roles of educators and parents carry with them the power to affect the attitudes, values, and beliefs of young people. Often these influential individuals are unaware of the ideals that they ppass on through their words and actions. Lee, Marks, and Byrd (1994) conducted a study to explore the nature and frequency of sexism in high- school classrooms, finding that "gender domination" occurred in many classrooms, particularly in science classes. The findings included a different kind of sexism in boys and girls' schools identified as "gender reinforcement," or gonder-role stereotyping, especially in single-gender schools with a gender match between teachers and students, In boys' schools, most incidents of sexism occurred in English classes, while sexism in gils' schools was somewhat evenly distributed across subject areas. Several examples of “gender reinforcement” transpired in the same-gender classes in this study. During a lesson on sunspots inthe same-gender female class, students focused on the visual elements of a graph, such as using colored pencils and mounting the completed graph on construction paper. The teacher made femninine-oriented comments such as, *This is pretty — it turned out nice," and "There are a lot that look nico," which appeared to reinforce the emphasis on creating an attractive graph. Other female-specific comments included addressing the group as "Girls with comments such as, "OK girls, let's keep on task, some chatter is not on topic." ‘Toward the end of the class period the teacher announced that the completion of the questions was more important than the graph, Students began to rush and worked to share answers with one another to copy responses to the questions in order to complete the assignment on time. With regard to behavior, there was a female student who exhibited buliying-type behaviors, getting out of her seat on several occasions to pt tape in a student's hair and on. student's arm, and to push a students chair in to the table to squeeze her between the chair and table, The student's actions were relatively covert and not noticed by the teacher as ‘the teacher monitored student progress around the room, At the end of the class period, the student began to grab another gil’s shoulders and bump into her. The teacher told her to "grab a seat," and concluded the lesson by telling students that they needed to study, Differences in behaviors observed with the same lesson in the mixed-gender class included a much greater task-orfemtation on the completion of the questions than on the graphing part ofthe project. Male and female students engaged in louder talking during the class period, and several male students were out of their seats during class. A male student was moved to the front of the room due to making noises and "keeping everybody else off-task." One off-task conversation at the beginning of class focused on a boy's slitches after ke attracted the attention of the girls by asking them if they wanted to see his stitches (located in his mouth), and which another male student then asked to see. When a student got up to staple his paper the teacher told him to staple it gently, to which the student replied, "It doesn't work if you don't slam it." ‘The teacher replied, "Try ... we like our men to be gentle with their staplers.” ‘These interactions typify the gender-siereotyping that occurs in classrooms, often without teachers and students being conscious of the gender-bias or discrimination that takes place. Based on the findings for this research study, there is support that change of a school structure to create same-gender classes is not sufficient to address gender inequity in education. The data yielded results that suggest the teachers and students involved in the study continued to strengthen gender-stereotypes in the classroom. [Recommendations for future studies would include addressing the gender-related *hidden curriculum’ and the teachers; students; and parents’ unexamined attitudes and beliefs toward male/female Yearning in the field of science. In addition, examination of science instruction that includes appropriate text materi ‘motivational strategies, and stimulating learning activities with regard to student achievement and at toward science would be valuable professional development for teachers, Friend, Jennifer. "Research On Same-Gender Grouping In Eighth Grade Science Classrooms." Research In Middle Level Education Online 30.4 (2006): 1-15. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Apr. 2015Research Spotlight on Single-Gender Education In 1993, American University professors Myra Sadker and David Sadker published their research in Failing in Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls, which describes striking discoveries about faimess in American schools. During a three-year study, trained observers visited more than 100 elementary school classrooms in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and the District of Columbia and noted student-teacher interactions, including the following: ‘+ Boys called out eight times as often as girls did. When a boy yelled out, the teacher ignored the “raise your hand* rule and usually praised his contribution. Girls who called out got reminders to raise their hands. + Teachers valued boys' comments more than girls! comments, Teachers responded to girls with a imple nod or an OK, but they praised, corrected, helped, and criticized boys. ‘+ Boys were encouraged to solve problems on their own, but teachers helped girls who were stuck ‘on problems. Male dominance in the classroom may come as no surprise to advocates of single-gender education who suggest that boys and girls are regularly treated differently in coeducational settings and that both boys and girls could both benef from single-gender classrooms. Studies suggest that when boys are in single-gender Classrooms, they are more successful in school and more likely to pursue a wide range of interests and activities. rls who lear in all-girl environments are believed to be more comfortable responding to questions and sharing their opinions in class and more likely to explore more “nontraditional” subjects such as math, scienco, and technology. In addition, advocates believe that when children learn with single-gender peers, they are more likely o attend to their studies, speak more openly in the classroom, and feel more ‘encouraged to pursue their interests and achieve their fullest potential Of course, these beliefs have been challenged as well. The American Association of University Women. published Separated by Sex: A Criticat Look at Single-Sex Education for Girls (1998), which notes that single-sex education is not necessarily better than coedueation, According to the report, boys and girls thrive on a good education, regardless of whether the school is single-sex or coeducational. Some findings include: ‘+ Noevidence shows that single-sex education works or is better for girls than coeducation. ‘+ When elements of a good education are present—such as small classes and schools, equitable teaching practices, and focused academic curriculum—girls and boys succeed. + Some kinds of single-sex programs produce positive results for some students, including a preference for math and science among girls, http://www.nea.org/tools/17061.htm