what is the advantages of single gender school
Answers
Single-gender education, the teaching of male or female students in separate classes or schools, was common in the United States until the twentieth century. But while the separation of students by gender has grown increasingly uncommon, educators, administrators and parents in the District and across the country are taking another look at the potential benefits of single-gender education.
Many of the single-gender schools in the District are private schools established many years ago by religious institutions. Founded in 1789 and located in Bethesda, Georgetown Preparatory, which serves grades 9 to 12, is the nation’s oldest Catholic boys school. Located in Bladensburg, Maryland, Elizabeth Seton High School is a private Catholic all-girls high school established in 1959. And the Washington School for Girls (WSG), a Catholic school in Anacostia for girls in grades 3-8, was founded in 1998.
But in the last ten years or so, the concept has gained traction. The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) opened Ron Brown Preparatory College in the fall of 2016 to serve young men of color in grades 9 to 12, and North Star Preparatory, a new Public Charter School for boys in grades 4 to 8, is slated to open in the summer of 2018.
Experts argue that boys and girls simply learn differently, and that each gender absorbs information better in differing environments. WSG President Beth Reaves points out that one advantage of single-gender schools is that educators are able to better focus on and respond to behavior and learning skills that experts say are associated with each gender.
“Research shows that there is a difference in how boys and girls learn,” said Reaves. “We’re still learning so much. There’s a wide range of learning skills, and there are so many ways of segmenting children into learning groups.”
The difference between gendered learning styles among elementary school aged boys and girls of the same age can be larger than differences in age groups, says research from the National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE). MRI scans show that boys have more areas of the brain dedicated on spatial-mechanical strengths, and girls have better verbal and emotional processing. The hippocampus, an area of the brain dealing with language and memory, develops faster and gets larger in girls than boys. Due to higher levels of serotonin and oxytocin, girls are also better able to focus, enabling them to sit still, read and write at an earlier age whereas boys often find it difficult to sit still and paying attention. Because of this, boys often require more periods of rest between lessons and are sometimes misdiagnosed with learning or attention-deficit problems.
Studies show that certain teaching styles work best for each gender. For instance, lessons incorporating movement energize boys and help them stay focused, such as digging for earthworms during science classes. NASSPE says that it is easier to teach boys math by focusing on the properties of numbers themselves, but lessons about pure math work best for girls when tied into real-world applications of number theory, such as the way the numbers in the Fibonacci series show when you count the bracts on a pinecone.”
Educational psychologists also say that girls evaluate their work more critically than boys, often reporting low confidence despite excellent performance, meaning girls need to build their confidence together with their knowledge and abilities.