By AG
In public schooling, single sex education did not become popular until the last fifteen years or so when title IX regulations were changed. These are regulations that in part regard the legality of single sex education in the United States. The changes to title IX regulations made it much easier for the Department of Education to allow single sex schooling. Single sex education in the United States has become popular, because of the belief that males and females not only learn differently, but they also in general, have vastly different interests. It has become the hope that by using gender specific teaching techniques males and females will have a better chance at succeeding in public schools. Personally, I don’t agree with this.
One disadvantage of single sex education is that it could impact a student's social skills negatively and make it harder for him or her to function in mixed-gender society. Students in a gender segregated school have less opportunity to interact with the opposite sex and this could make it harder for students to communicate with the opposite sex. In society, men and women often work side by side. It is a disadvantage if you do not know how to communicate in an articulate manner with the opposite sex, when it comes to the workplace and personal relationships.
Another issue is that most teachers have not learned gender specific teaching techniques. Most teachers do not have the experience or the expertise required to teach in a gender segregated school. Most teachers are trained to teach mixed-gender classes. This is a problem, perhaps the demand for teachers ready to employ gender specific teaching techniques, is higher than the supply of teachers ready to do so. If single sex education is going to be promoted in the United States, than we need more teachers educated in gender specific teaching techniques.
My biggest issue with single sex education is the alarming amount of research that shows there is little to no difference in the grades and test marks of students attending gender segregated schools from those of students attending mixed-gender schools. If the research is showing that students in gender segregated schools are barely doing any better than students in mixed-gender schools, why should single sex education be promoted over mixed-gender education? The slight positive difference in the success of students attending gender segregated schools can easily be explained by the fact that gender segregated schools are usually smaller and better funded than mixed-gender schools. The American Psychological Association analyzed 184 studies and found that single sex education does not educate males and females better than mixed-gender schools. Funding gender segregated school is often more expensive than the funding of mixed-gender schools, even when it's highly debatable whether or not gender segregated schools educate students better than mixed gender schools. This is why I believe that gender segregated schools aren’t a better option than mixed gender schools. However, I’ve never attended a gender segregated school. Have you? If you have, I would love to hear about your experience and opinion on single sex education in the comments. If you would like to read about research done by The American Psychological Association on single sex education, click on the following link: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/single-sex-education.aspx.
In public schooling, single sex education did not become popular until the last fifteen years or so when title IX regulations were changed. These are regulations that in part regard the legality of single sex education in the United States. The changes to title IX regulations made it much easier for the Department of Education to allow single sex schooling. Single sex education in the United States has become popular, because of the belief that males and females not only learn differently, but they also in general, have vastly different interests. It has become the hope that by using gender specific teaching techniques males and females will have a better chance at succeeding in public schools. Personally, I don’t agree with this.
One disadvantage of single sex education is that it could impact a student's social skills negatively and make it harder for him or her to function in mixed-gender society. Students in a gender segregated school have less opportunity to interact with the opposite sex and this could make it harder for students to communicate with the opposite sex. In society, men and women often work side by side. It is a disadvantage if you do not know how to communicate in an articulate manner with the opposite sex, when it comes to the workplace and personal relationships.
Another issue is that most teachers have not learned gender specific teaching techniques. Most teachers do not have the experience or the expertise required to teach in a gender segregated school. Most teachers are trained to teach mixed-gender classes. This is a problem, perhaps the demand for teachers ready to employ gender specific teaching techniques, is higher than the supply of teachers ready to do so. If single sex education is going to be promoted in the United States, than we need more teachers educated in gender specific teaching techniques.
My biggest issue with single sex education is the alarming amount of research that shows there is little to no difference in the grades and test marks of students attending gender segregated schools from those of students attending mixed-gender schools. If the research is showing that students in gender segregated schools are barely doing any better than students in mixed-gender schools, why should single sex education be promoted over mixed-gender education? The slight positive difference in the success of students attending gender segregated schools can easily be explained by the fact that gender segregated schools are usually smaller and better funded than mixed-gender schools. The American Psychological Association analyzed 184 studies and found that single sex education does not educate males and females better than mixed-gender schools. Funding gender segregated school is often more expensive than the funding of mixed-gender schools, even when it's highly debatable whether or not gender segregated schools educate students better than mixed gender schools. This is why I believe that gender segregated schools aren’t a better option than mixed gender schools. However, I’ve never attended a gender segregated school. Have you? If you have, I would love to hear about your experience and opinion on single sex education in the comments. If you would like to read about research done by The American Psychological Association on single sex education, click on the following link: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/single-sex-education.aspx.