St. Joseph teachers: Split class boosts academics
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No comments [ Add Comment ]By Amy K. Stewart
Standard-Examiner staff
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But St. Joseph Elementary School, a K-8 Catholic school in Ogden, implemented gender-split classes four years ago. The private school divided its 7th-grade pre-algebra students into classes of 13 girls and 14 boys this school year.
The school's educators believe there is academic success, as well as a high confidence and comfort level the students say they have in the same-gender classrooms.
Educators are examining the pros and cons of single-gender classes. Some point to better learning, while others worry about discrimination.
National increase
Meanwhile, such programs are increasing nationally.
In 1995, there were only three public schools offering gender-split classrooms, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education.
By March 2007, there were 262 public schools offering single-sex classes, most in math and science, according to NASSPE.
Public educators contacted in Northern Utah said the only gender-segregated classrooms they know of in their school districts are for physical education and choir.
The concept might start catching on statewide.
"I believe it may be a good thing," said Richard Gomez, coordinator of the educational equity section for the Utah State Office of Education.
"The research is showing it is effective for specifically impacted target populations," he said.
No Utah charter school has sex-segregated classes, according to Marlies Burns, director of Utah Charter Schools.
"I'd like to see charter schools start taking advantage of this opportunity," Burns said. "Based on research, students in same-sex classes are performing better academically."
A charter school would have to get approval from the State Charter School Board, or from the school district that granted its charter, to have same-sex classes.
Cautions
However, a national expert on the subject cautions educators that if gender-specific classes aren't done right, the practice can backfire.
Leonard Sax, founder and director of NASSPE, and author of "Why Gender Matters," says if educators aren't trained properly, the split classrooms can be a disaster.
There is a potential for discipline problems and over-emphasizing of gender stereotypes, Sax says.
Some groups worry the new USDE regulations could open a Pandora's box.
"It's possible there could be constitutional challenges," said Karen McCreary, executive director of ACLU of Utah.
Becky Johns, coordinator of Weber State University's women's studies department, says the same-sex classes can be a mixed bag.
Academics could be boosted, but educators should use caution, she said.
"We have to be careful that one class is not inferior to the other," Johns said. "Can we do that? I think we can."
Johns said since most schools can't afford the smaller classes and extra teachers that same-sex classes require, educators should be concentrating on implementing beneficial programs into the mixed -gender classes.
"We need to find ways to empower girls and boys in a coed classroom," she said.
Johns suggests starting with eliminating "girls against boys" competitions and promoting the concept of cooperative activities.
The genders need to learn to work together, she said. "That is the way real life is," Johns pointed out.
St. Joseph educators launched their same-sex class program after hearing of research that shows girls lagging in math. They heard girls were making great academic gains in same-gender classrooms, said St. Joseph Principal Louise Price.
"We want more girls in engineering and science fields," Price said. "They need that math."
Passing the test
Across the country, many educators report that separating the girls and boys has resulted in amazing academic increases.
In an experiment at an elementary school in Florida, fourth-graders were put in same-sex classes and coed classes. At the end of the school year, coed-class boys tested 37 percent proficient and the coed-class girls tested 59 percent proficient, according to NASSPE data.
In the same-sex class, the boys tested 86 percent proficient while the girls tested 75 percent proficient, according to NASSPE data.
Some of the boys who increased in proficiency had been labeled as learning disabled or as having attention deficit disorder, the study said.
Price says she is examining test data for her school's same-gender math program.
The school doesn't have any solid facts available yet, but Price said she believes the students are more motivated, which has positively affected grades and test scores.
The data report may be released this summer, Price said.
The small class sizes and the personalized attention are also a factor, St. Joseph educators said.
But even if there isn't a great increase in grades and test scores, St. Joseph will maintain the segregated classrooms because the kids like it so much, Price said.
The private school may even branch into same-sex science classes, she said.
St. Joseph parents are supportive of the split classes. There were no coed classes for seventh-grade pre-algebra this year.
"It's a good equalizer," said Teresa Panushka, whose son went through a same-sex math class.
She said it's important for girls and boys to get the same amount of face time with their teacher. She said her son left the class well-prepared to move to the next level.
Using hobbies
Teachers at St. Joseph say they play into the students' hobbies when teaching math concepts. For example, when learning percentages, the teachers use sports examples for the boys and shopping or cooking examples for the girls.
"The students actually started enjoying the word problems," said Linda Studdard, who teaches the girls' math class.
St. Joseph teachers said they are careful not to discourage any student's interests. For example, one girl wanted to do a math project based on Real Salt Lake soccer scores, and that was fine, Studdard said.
Cathy Johnson, who has taught girls' classes in previous years at St. Joseph, said, "The boys obviously are much more interested in sports and active things.
"Girls, we can bring in their interests, which do include sports but maybe more toward dance, sewing and cooking," she said. "Of course, we use those with boys, too. But somehow it's different when it's your own peers you're working with."
In an interview with the Standard-Examiner, Sax said while the St. Joseph educators are on the right track, there are a few factors in their program that worry him, mainly the possibility of gender stereotyping.
"There is promise and peril in a single-sex classroom," said Sax, who has a doctorate in psychology.
Sax points to a program that went to extremes. It was at a junior high school in Louisiana.
Teachers tailored classroom instruction "to reflect overbroad stereotypes and generalizations about differences between the genders," according to court documents.
Educators emphasized hunting to boys and babies to girls in the split classrooms.
Students and parents were offered no coeducational alternative to this program, which was instituted without input from students or parents, according to the court case.
One 13-year-old girl was a firefighter cadet, scuba diver and purple belt in Shaolin Kung Fu. Her parents sued the school district, with the support of the ACLU -- and won. The split classes were disbanded.
"Their program was a disaster from start to finish," Sax said.
