Separation spurs scholastic success
A Spring Hill elementary school has seen progress in both boys and girls since splitting them up.
By TOM MARSHALL, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007
SPRING HILL - Something magical has happened this fall in the fifth grade at Westside Elementary School.
Girls are coming out of their shells. Boys are working hard. And just when you'd expect gender relations to become distracting, there's harmony.
"The boys aren't getting into trouble as much," marveled fifth-grader Tina Rifenburgh. "I don't know why."
Chalk it up to single-sex classes. And the magic isn't limited to fifth grade.
Since August, Westside has been on the cutting edge of educational reform, with one all-boys class and another for girls at every grade level. Proponents say every school in the nation should consider it.
"Coed schools tend to reinforce gender stereotypes," said Dr. Leonard Sax, founding director of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. "We think parents should have a choice as to what's the best format."
Sax, a medical doctor with a doctorate in psychology, sparked something of a revolution with his 2005 book, Why Gender Matters, and this year's Boys Adrift.
His findings, supported by dozens of other respected researchers, boil down to a simple point: Boys' brains are different from girls' brains, and they develop on different timetables.
While girls' brains mature more quickly in terms of language and fine motor skills, boys develop faster in targeting and spacial memory, according to a Virginia Tech study.
Boys also feel comfortable in a cooler room, Sax said, and their hearing is less acute. To say nothing of the research on personality trait differences.
Schools that recognize gender brain differences can compensate for them with single-sex classes and other strategies, he said. Those that don't are often reinforcing gender stereotypes, like the one that says boys are good at math and girls aren't.
"There are fewer girls studying physics today, in absolute numbers, than there were 20 years ago," Sax said. "What we're doing in the coed schools isn't working."
Like day and night
Walk into a boys' class at Westside, and then walk across the hall to the girls' class. They really are different.
At the start of a recent morning in Marvin Wethington's first-grade class, it was time for some sight-word bingo. A few boys passed out cards and chips, as the rest sat waiting, quiet as church mice.
"I need a good strong reader with a good command voice," announced Wethington, a former Army drill sergeant, as hands shot up. His teaching style was supportive but very direct, with plenty of volume - just what boys need, according to Sax's research.
Across the hall, the first-grade girls had their heads in workbooks. Teacher Jillian Strat moved from desk to desk, occasionally providing a word of encouragement or advice.
As they finished their tasks, the girls picked up reading books without any urging. Some quietly voiced the words of Dr. Seuss or The Three Little Pigs.
Later they'd be in a cozy reading circle, before moving to small-group work. There was no rush.
Back in the boys' section, it was nonstop action. They'd gone from an up-and-out-of-your-chairs reading game to literacy board games.
"Because the boys can't sit still for any length of time," Wethington explained. "Or shouldn't."
Single-gender critics
There have been challenges to the single-sex education movement. The National Organization for Women fears girls won't get equal treatment, and other groups have said it resembles the sort of segregation once practiced on the basis of race.
Sax is sympathetic to such fears but says they're unfounded. Single-gender education is all about brain differences and the way schools have failed to account for them in teaching children of all types, he said.
"You can't tell by looking at a child's brain whether that child is black or white, Asian or Hispanic," Sax wrote to the federal Department of Education in 2004. "But you can tell, by looking at a child's brain, whether the child is a girl or a boy."
His organization counts about 360 public schools currently providing single-sex classes, including 80 single-sex schools. And last year the federal government addressed concerns over Title IX, the 1972 law designed to promote gender equity. The government gave its approval to provide such programs on condition that data are collected and coed alternatives are provided.
Adapting to change
First-graders at Westside will likely have plenty of time to adjust to single-gender classes.
Principal Charles Johnson has said he's committed to the optional program and plans to collect plenty of data on its impact - particularly for boys. "The research shows that boys are falling behind," he said. "We need to create an environment where they aren't turned off to school."
But for the fifth-graders, who rose through the school in coed classes, it's been a big adjustment.
In Donna Urban's language arts class, the boys say "yes ma'am" and fold their hands on their desks.
"They're a bit more rowdy," she said. "They need more direct instruction and extra examples."
Funny thing is, the boys like it.
"It helps me get focused," said fifth-grader Christopher Longyear, "because I'm paying attention more."
"Last year I got in trouble," agreed Nicholas Lopez. "Being with just the boys helps me focus on my work."
Next door in the math class of Scott Urban, Donna's husband, the girls were hopping out of their seats with excitement over a math contest. With no boys around, they can excel without feeling self-conscious.
"We can do more activities, and we don't have to complain about people picking on us," said Annie Estevez. "We have more learning because girls understand, and sometimes boys slack a little."
Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.