SEX ED
No, not that kind. Education of the sexes.
Deb sends along note of a middle school that has been experimenting with single-sex classes. From this brief article, it sounds like the principal is really on the ball.
The school’s sex-separation experiment will expand to include the majority of students in every grade. Ninety percent of sixth-graders, 70 percent of seventh-graders and 60 percent of eighth-graders at the 1,200-student school will be in boys- or girls-only classes.
…Although standardized test scores did not significantly improve among the 270 students whose classes were sex-segregated last year, behavior problems plummeted. Principal Bonnie Fox said those results were so positive, including a 52 percent reduction in discipline referrals among sixth-graders, that she decided to expand the program and use it to improve academic scores.
That’s science there. Start small. Track the students. Look for statistically important differences. Heck, she even reported that test scores did not go up. Negative results are just as important as positive ones.
Kudos to Principal Bonnie Fox.
3 Responses to “SEX ED”
 Comment by Deviant July 25th, 2004 at 4:27 pm |
I liked that parents are able to choose either way. I hope that they’ll always have the choice. I liked that the article stated using different techniques to teach boys and girls. Many homeschoolers know their children’s learning styles. 😉 I wonder if academically, the school is teaching the boys and girls the same things? I will conclude, that it’s still public school. |
 Comment by Laura July 25th, 2004 at 7:03 pm |
I like it when people collect data, analyze it, and act on it. It just gives me the warm fuzzies. Which leads to one of my many complaints about school uniforms – they’re supposed to raise test scores and decrease the necessity of disciplinary action. These are measurable things. So after two years of uniforms, why haven’t we parents of city school students seen the data? I’ll tell you why – because if there is no measurable improvement that can be ascribed to the uniforms, they still won’t withdraw the policy. Because they don’t want to. |
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Comment by Deviant July 25th, 2004 at 9:12 pm |
To me, uniforms boil down to conforming the students to what the government schools want them to be. They are taking students’ and parents’ rights away by dictating what students can wear. They are taking away the right for children to express their individuality. I will say that public schools can have appropriate dress codes without taking away students uniqueness. |