THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9412310263
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: REWRITING THE LESSON PLAN
SINGLE-SEX SCHOOLING
The debate over separating the sexes in the classroom.
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 429 lines
None of his classmates snickered when Eugene Riddick, an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Bowling Park Elementary School, stood and introduced himself as Pocahontas, the Indian maiden who pleaded for the life of Capt. John Smith.
And students listened respectfully as Ramon Privott, 10, described himself as an Englishwoman who settled in Jamestown in 1619, found a husband and had a baby.
In most public school classrooms in America, girls would have been chosen to play those historical roles. But in Darlene Brothers' all-boys class, sometimes the guys have to be one of the girls.
The boys take it in stride.
``I just went on and did it. I didn't worry about it,'' Eugene said later.
``It takes somebody more mature to play the part of a girl,'' chimed in Travis Whitfield, 10, repeating what Brothers had told the class to prepare them for the female roles.
As educators throughout the nation search for means to improve public schools, Bowling Park Principal Herman D. Clark Jr. thinks he has found an answer in same-sex classes. Both girls and boys attend kindergarten through fifth grade at the school, but they are taught in separate classes except for nonacademic courses such as art and music.
``It is the best thing that has ever happened to Bowling Park school,'' Clark says unequivocally. ``. . . Kids are more interested in coming to school now.''
In Virginia, public school reform is high on Gov. George F. Allen's agenda, and proponents of single-sex education have seized the moment.
A strike force appointed by Allen last year to review government operations, including education, recommended in November that the state Department of Education study the ``potential advantages'' of single-sex schooling.
And the governor's Commission on Champion Schools in November called for legislation allowing parents and teachers to open alternative public schools, called ``charter'' schools. Backers of single-sex education see such schools as potential laboratories to prove the value of gender separation.
In the fiercely debated arena of education reform, however, the idea of segregating the sexes in classrooms is not universally embraced. Critics point out that the sexes are not separated in the real world.
``I feel very troubled about the notion of segregation touted as a solution when it used to be a problem,'' said Leslie Wolfe, president of the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington. ``It's a relatively simple-minded approach to systemic problems that won't go away.''
The courts and federal laws barring segregated schooling loom as potential barriers. In one relevant case that's still up in the air, the U.S. Justice Department in 1990 sued state-supported Virginia Military Institute to force the all-male school to admit females.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing a federal judge's ruling that would allow VMI to establish a separate academy for women. If VMI loses the case, the door on single-sex education in public schools could slam shut.
Nevertheless, while discrimination concerns have not been resolved, the Commission on Champion Schools identified a student's gender as one of several ``reasonable admission criteria'' that could be considered for charter schools.
Proponents contend that allowing single-sex classes in the public sector would increase school choice - a key component of Allen's education platform.
``At this point, it's only affluent parents who pay for private schools who have that option,'' said Michelle Easton, a commission member and an Allen appointee to the state Board of Education.
``To have no single-sex options at all in our public schools is unbelievable. Some girls and boys do better in a single-sex setting, and we should have schools where individual students are going to flourish and do their best. The more options, the better.''
At co-ed schools, same-gender classes can be provided without additional expense, educators say. Separating the sexes doesn't necessarily require more teachers, more classroom space or a different curriculum.
Supporters also say gender-based classes would equip educators with another tool to improve academic performance.
In subjects such as math and science, traditionally considered boys' fields, separating the sexes could be beneficial, said Nancy Shelton, a member of the Prince Edward County School Board who served on the strike force. National studies have shown that girls are shortchanged in co-ed classrooms.
``I do not believe in total separation,'' Shelton said. ``I do believe, however, that there are occasions and some subjects and some age levels where it would be appropriate.''
Across the country, a small but growing number of public schools since the mid-1980s has begun experimenting with single-sex classes. Some inner-city schools, such as Matthew Henson Elementary in Baltimore, have focused efforts on African-American males from low-income families, a group considered to be at great risk of dropping out or failing in school.
Others, such as Ventura High School in California, have set up separate classes for girls in math, science and technology, subjects that boys traditionally have dominated.
At inner-city Bowling Park, many students live in poor households and come to school unprepared to learn, said Clark the principal. He turned to single-sex classes partly out of desperation. Seven years later, he said, the academic benefits are clear: Test scores, attendance and behavior all have improved.
On the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, for example, the school's scores in reading, math, language arts and science have moved from the bottom quarter to the top half of students nationwide.
Last year, the school's fourth-graders scored above the national average on all six of the test's academic measures. It was the only majority-black neighborhood school of 10 in Norfolk to do that.
At Ventura High, where all-girls math classes debuted last year, the number of girls signing up for advanced math classes nearly doubled this year. Without boys to distract them, many girls who once disliked math and performed poorly began making A's and B's.
``The girls wanted it, they asked for it,'' Chris Mikles, a math teacher at the school, said. ``It makes them feel more successful.''
Legal ground shaky
While students may benefit, educators run the risk of violating federal law. In public education, courts have ruled that separate is unequal.
In 1991, a lawsuit by parents and civil rights groups derailed a plan in Detroit to open three public schools intended exclusively for elementary-age black males. A federal judge forced the district to open them to girls.
The argument against the schools was that girls were being denied similar resources.
``If a program is set up for one gender, but if it only serves to reinforce past stereotypes or disadvantages the other gender, that runs into problems,'' said Marcia Greenberger, a spokeswoman for the National Women's Law Center in Washington.
Proponents draw a distinction between single-sex schools and single-sex classes. School officials say they've avoided legal problems by making their same-sex classes voluntary and by offering co-ed classes for children whose parents don't want them segregated by gender.
Critics maintain that single-sex classes violate the spirit of the Constitution's equal protection provisions and the federal Title IX law, approved by Congress in 1972 to prohibit sex discrimination in public education.
U.S. Department of Education officials have called the idea legally suspect but have not attempted to ban experimentation.
So far, nobody has challenged a public elementary or secondary school that has offered single-sex classes.
All it might take to stymie the movement is for one disgruntled parent or child to file suit.
Despite that threat, Norfolk schools Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. has supported Clark's efforts at Bowling Park and favors more experimentation.
``We're trying to work our way through the labyrinth of law and do what's best for the children,'' Nichols said. ``Of course, we run afoul of our city attorney's recommendation: He's saying someone will take us to court and that we won't win.''
Norfolk School Board member Robert F. Williams, the father of three school-age daughters and a champion of single-sex classes, said the future of public education rests on the ability of schools to be flexible and to experiment with a variety of teaching methods.
``We need to customize education rather than just have one size fits all, because it doesn't,'' Williams said.
Are girls getting cheated?
The education of girls has captured national headlines since a 1991 American Association of University Women report publicized how classrooms often are biased against females.
In their new book ``Failing At Fairness,'' David Sadker and his wife, Myra, both professors at The American University in Washington, detail how America's schools ``cheat'' girls: Boys dominate discussion and get more attention and encouragement from teachers; girls receive subtle messages that discourage them from being assertive or assuming leadership roles in class; textbooks often ignore or stereotype the roles that women play in society.
Little research exists on the effect of single-sex classes at public co-ed schools. Studies at private schools and women's colleges, however, indicate that girls benefit from single-sex settings, David Sadker said.
``Research shows that single-sex environments are good for girls in math and science, but that boys tend to do the same in co-ed or single-sex classes,'' Sadker said. ``To us, that serves as a constant reminder, a Jeffersonian fire bell in the night, that girls aren't getting a fair shake in co-ed schools.''
Studies offer evidence that many girls learn better when students work together in small groups rather than in the competitive atmosphere that charges many mixed-sex classrooms, Sadker said.
Even though test results show that girls begin school with the same capacity for math and science as boys, by the time they reach middle school, girls begin to lag - apparently for no reason other than social expectations.
``While opportunities have opened up a great deal for women in our society, there are still barriers,'' said Lisa Jacobs, a spokeswoman for Girls Inc. in New York. ``As short as 20 or 30 years ago, there was a general belief in our society that girls were not as biologically equipped as boys in math and science.''
Societal biases linger still. But groups that have highlighted the problem are uncomfortable endorsing single-sex classes as a solution, preferring instead to improve co-ed schooling.
``The danger is to seize on single-sex classes as a quick fix and ignore the real changes that need to be made to help girls as well as boys,'' the law center's Greenberger said. ``In the long run, life isn't going to be separated by gender.''
Ann Chipley, director of the American Association of University Women in Washington, said, ``We need to learn what it is about single-sex education that makes it more girl-friendly and then translate that to the real world.''
Jacobs said separating the sexes is too simplistic because not all girls respond the same way to teaching methods or fit the mold society has created for them. And neither do boys.
``What we need to look at is what we as a society can do to improve everyone's options,'' Jacobs said. ``I think boys face a great deal of pressure from society to fight and succeed and be powerful, but there are many boys out there who don't fit the model. And there are many girls who do.'' Bowling Park's Success
A handwritten sign on the door of Darlene Brothers' fifth-grade boys class at Norfolk's Bowling Park school reads: ``Come In - The Brothers Are Here!''
In this class of black males, she always tries to inject morals about life. In her lesson about the Jamestown settlement, with Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith, Brothers was preparing them for an upcoming quiz competition in which they'd have to give oral answers to questions.
``Now your job tonight is to think up more questions and think about what they'll ask you,'' Brothers told her class. ``Because when you go to an interview to get a job or when somebody tries to sell you drugs, you're going to have to think about an answer - quick!''
Recently, Brothers brought in a newspaper article about a black teenager who shot a pizza delivery man. She used it to teach reading comprehension and to stress to the boys why that kind of behavior is unacceptable. She said she wouldn't be able to approach the subject the same way in a mixed class.
``These kids bring into the classroom things that happen at home or on the street, drugs and violence,'' Brothers said. ``Dealing with all boys, it gives me an opportunity to talk about those situations. I pound into them that life is hard but that they need to continue striving for an education and to do what is right.''
Bowling Park is nearly 100 percent black. About 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. When Principal Clark first raised the idea of single-sex classes, teachers and parents were skeptical but willing to try it.
Now there are few doubters. Clark said only one parent this year insisted that her child be enrolled in a co-ed class, several of which are available at the school.
``The parents I've talked to are very excited about it,'' said Leonard Parker, whose son attends the school. ``I don't have any doubts. I think it's working.''
Clark, a charismatic principal who has gained a national reputation among educators, has done other things to improve academic performance: recruited experienced teachers, reduced class sizes and held special classes to prepare students for standardized tests. But in his 13 years at the school, he places single-sex classes at the top for effectiveness.
During the school's first year of separate classes, Anne Chrusciel was run ragged by a rowdy group of fifth-grade boys who didn't seem interested in reading. She finally grabbed their attention with sports magazines. They were all reading at grade level by year's end, she said.
``I think when you have same-gender classes, you can find their interests and work your curriculum around that,'' said Chrusciel, who now teaches first-grade girls. ``Once I won them over, it was much easier getting them to read what I wanted them to.''
Critics say there is a risk of reinforcing gender stereotypes by such techniques. Bowling Park teachers argue that it's sometimes easier to break gender stereotypes in a single-sex setting because the kids don't feel the need to pose in traditional gender roles.
``My boys did things I knew they wouldn't have done with girls in the room,'' Chrusciel said.
The boys opened up and talked about their feelings. She got boys interested in baking cookies as a way to teach math - definitely something they would have resisted in a co-ed class, she said.
When she tried to get the boys to read ``Sarah, Plain and Tall,'' they at first refused. After watching a movie based on the book, they relented and became engrossed.
``They thought it was a girls' book,'' Chrusciel said. ``These are the unwritten cultural rules, `This is men's stuff, and this is women's stuff' - we've got to knock that down.''
Chrusciel said grouping kids of the same sex in class helps them form important social bonds.
``They start to care more for each other and to help each other with their work,'' Chrusciel said.
Joseph Kushland, in his first year at Bowling Park, teaches a fifth-grade girls class. He was surprised to learn that the school had single-sex classes.
``My first question was, `Is it legal?' I thought it was a form of discrimination,'' Kushland said.
But after seeing it in practice, he endorses the idea. ``They're not learning different material,'' Kushland said. ``They do not have any different education. The education is the same.''
Girls in Kushland's class said they liked being in a class without boys.
``When they like you, they're always trying to touch you,'' said Sabrina Fulford, 11.
Boys in Brothers' fifth-grade class liked being by themselves for many of the same reasons.
``You pay more attention to the teacher instead of worrying about what the girls do,'' said Nicholas Lawrence, 10.
In Clark's view, what has worked at his school can work elsewhere. What it takes is a committed staff and efforts to include parents in the decision-making, he said.
``Too often people have a tendency to challenge and knock things before they know what's going on,'' Clark said. ``Nine out of 10 times, kids are going to like it.'' MEMO: THREE SINGLE-SEX PROGRAMS
Matthew Henson Elementary
Location: Baltimore
Size: 604 students, kindergarten through fifth grade.
Reason: Classes for academically at-risk black males were begun in
1987, targeting inner-city youths who research showed were more likely
to drop out, flunk out and get into trouble with the law. The school
attempted to provide the boys with positive role models.
Results: Principal Leah Goldsborough-Hasty said the move to all-boys
classes improved attendance, reduced behavior problems in class and
raised academic performance. After the classes were offered, boys who
had flunked first or second grade in co-ed classes were reading at grade
level by the time they reached third grade, she said. In 1991, the
school began offering all-girls classes, with similar results.
There are certain behaviors we can capitalize on: There's a sense of
`teamness' among boys, and they don't have a problem asking their
buddies to help them or to participate. They're not as easily
distracted. With girls in the room, there's a tendency to show off and
bully other kids. . . .I think when the parents observe the achievement
and growth and the behavior of the children, they figured, `Something's
going on there, and we shouldn't disturb it.' ''
-Principal Leah Goldsborough-Hasty
Ventura High School
Location: Ventura, Calif.
Size: 1,700 students, ninth through 12th grade.
Reason: Most girls stopped taking math after algebra II, the
highest-level math course required in California for state university
admission. In a typical year, fewer than 30 girls enrolled in
trigonometry, the next level of math.
Results: One year after offering two all-girls algebra II classes in
1993-94, the school nearly doubled the number of girls who went on to
enroll in trigonometry. The single-sex classes proved so popular with
female students that the school this year expanded all-girls classes to
geometry and trigonometry.
What the girls tell me is that they just don't feel comfortable
asking questions in math because they've been put down so many times,
they feel stupid. I'm talking about regular girls. They said . . . (the
all-girls classes) gave them a chance to build up their confidence so
they could compete with boys on an equal basis. . . We may spend more
time discussing concepts they want to understand, but it's not a
watered-down course.''
-Chris Mikles, math teacher
The main thing that made a difference for me were the learning
techniques. We sat at tables in groups of three or four and were able to
talk and ask questions of anyone in the class. It's easier for me to
learn with somebody learning with me. I was making C's in math. I got an
A.'' Kelly Brandon, a student who enrolled in an all-girls algebra II
class last year and now is a college freshman
Manchester High School
Location: Manchester, Conn.
Size: 900 students in the school's technology program.
Reason: To increase female enrollment in technology classes, the
school system has proposed offering a voluntary all-girls technology
class for ninth- and 10th-graders. Only about 6 percent of current
technology students are girls - about 55 of the 900. The program is
scheduled to start next fall.
"Some people call it discriminatory. Well, what we're dealing with is
a kind of discrimination; girls in our society, up until the past few
years, have not been expected to do technical things. In surveying
eighth-grade girls, we found that they know less about technology and
technical occupations than boys do. The world is becoming more
technology-dependent, and if girls are somehow left out of that loop,
they're going to be at a disadvantage.''
-Rich Gagliardi, director of career and vocational education for
Manchester schools
BOWLING PARK STUDENTS' VIEWS
``I think it's easier for girls to communicate with each other
because we have a type of bond. We can tell each other things we can't
tell boys - private things.'' - Shawna Johnson, 10
``When we get in the eighth grade, we can probably handle being in
the boys' class because we'll be older.'' - Jamye Wilson, 11
``I learn better with all girls because some boys just don't act
right - they try to pick on you all the time,'' - Lakita Allen, 10
``We can express our feelings better without girls being in the room,
and we can cooperate better. If girls are in the classroom, we can't
concentrate because we'll be worried what they're thinking about us.
We'll be dressing up for girls instead of coming in to learn.'' - Travis
Whitfield, 10
``We can talk about boy things and about making it in life - staying
away from violence and using our heads to get an education.'' - Ramon
Privott, 10
``I like being in a mixed class with girls because you can't go on
without a girl in your life.'' - Richard Brown, 10
``I like being in an all-boys class because you pay more attention to
the teacher instead of worrying about what the girls do.'' - Nicholas
Lawrence, 10
``Sometimes if you don't know something, they'll be trying to joke
you and laugh and call you a dummy.'' - Tanysha Wiggins, 10, referring
to boys in previous classes
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
In an effort to improve academic performance, a small but growing,
number of public schools in the United States are separating boys from
girls in the classroom. Some schools are doing it by subject - math and
science classes for girls, for instance - while a few inner-city schools
are targeting black males, a group most at risk of academic failure.
ARGUMENTS FOR
Provides choice for students and parents.
Reduces behavior problems and other distractions.
Allows teachers to develop a gender-specific curriculum to motivate
students.
Enables girls to take leadership roles and to develop self-confidence
in subjects traditionally dominated by boys, such as math and
technology.
Fosters teaching methods that encourage cooperative, group learning
rather than the competitive atmosphere that intimidates many students.
Helps girls learn and perform better, research shows.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Open to legal challenge.
Creates a sheltered environment that may not prepare students for the
real world.
Sends a harmful message to girls that they can't compete with boys on
an equal basis.
Sends a dangerous message to boys that what girls have to contribute
is not worthwhile.
Reinforces gender stereotypes.
[For related stories, see page A7 for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: SAM HUNDLEY/Staff illustrations
TAMARA VONINSKI
Staff photos
Aisha Fulford, 9, reads during one of her fifth-grade classes at
Bowling Park Elementary School in Norfolk. Girls and boys are taught
in separate classes at the school, except for nonacademic courses
such as art and music.
In her all-boys class of fifth-graders at Bowling Park Elementary,
teacher Darlene Brothers tries to inject morals about life.
Bowling Park teacher Anne Chrusciel used sports magazines to get a
group of fifth-grade boys interested in reading.
ARE WOMAN LAGGING IN THE SCIENCES?
Percentage of SAT takers enrolled in selected courses, by gender
SOURCE: College Board
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION SINGLE-SEX CLASSROOMS BOWLING PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
by CNB