Single-sex schooling has a calming effect

"Without boys in class, girls don't have to worry about how we look or how we act," says eighth-grader Ronniesha Morris. "Girls are scared to act all smart in front of boys. Maybe it's because they make fun of us."

"I like being in a class with all dudes," says Bruce Smith, also in eighth grade. "Because we're dudes, we understand where each other's coming from. It's more comfortable."

Morris and Smith are both students at The 49ers Academy in East Palo Alto, the only public school in California that has no coed classes. The middle school, serving grades 6-8, is populated by 110 students. Most are low-income and minority. The school's website characterizes them as "exhibiting high-risk behaviors" and being "hard to reach and hard to teach."

The boys and girls have separate lunchtimes, but come together at school dances, student body meetings and a 15-minute recess in the morning. When the girls line up to go outside for recess, they hurriedly apply lip gloss and fix their hair. But despite the primping, girls and boys mostly stick to separate areas of the playground, looking at each from afar and giggling.

The 49ers Academy is the sole survivor of a pilot project funded by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1997 and terminated shortly after he left office the following year.

A state evaluation of the short-lived California experiment concluded that single-gender schools provided equal resources for boys and girls, but were not successful in eliminating gender bias or stereotyping in teaching practices. The report blames this on a lack of legislated funding as well as a lack of guidance, support and training.

Single-gender public schools may enjoy a renaissance if the Bush administration has its way. It has announced plans to give public schools the flexibility to create single-sex classes and schools under the No Child Left Behind Act.

In 1998, the AAUW Educational Foundation conducted a review of what reseach there was on the subject and found no evidence that single-sex education is better than coed education. Any advantages disappear when the findings are adjusted for socioeconomic status, pre-enrollment ability, selectivity of the school, and other variables.

Besides, the foundation warns, single-sex education could open the door to unequal educational opportunities for either sex, and divert attention (and funding) from efforts to implement sound strategies to improve achievement for all students.

Nevertheless, The 49ers Academy believes it's creating an environment where students can focus more on academics because there are fewer distractions.

"Middle school students do especially well in a single-gender environment because their hormones are out of control," says language arts and social studies teacher Kendra Gragg, a member of the Ravenswood District Teachers Association (RDTA). Being in school together is "distracting for them because their bodies are going through so many changes."

The academy tries to keep students focused by banning provocative clothing like halter tops and short skirts.

Gragg, who teaches both boys and girls, describes herself as a big proponent of single-sex classes. "It works especially well for the girls, because they are dealing with a lot of self-esteem issues and they are so much more comfortable in an all-girls classroom. I've had comments from girls like, 'Oh my gosh, I never would have stood up and read like that in my old school.' In an all-female classroom they aren't afraid to express themselves and participate in their own learning. For girls at that age, it's very good for them to come together and bond. But with guys — and all those male hormones — it can be kind of rowdy in class. A higher percentage of boys have behavior issues."

This year the school is focusing on increasing the test scores and reading levels of male students. "We've noticed that they've fallen behind and haven't performed as well as girls," says Gragg.

She finds that some strategies work better for girls and others work better for boys. "Girls generally respond well to small-group instruction and cooperative learning," she says. "I find that boys respond better to whole-class instruction. It's hard to say why. In my opinion, boys are not the interpersonal learners that girls are."

Math and science teacher Gary Love Davis believes that the staff's commitment to the school has helped strengthen the program. "For this to work, you need total buy-in to the philosophy."

It also helps that the school has strong support from a nonprofit agency, Ravenswood Communities in Schools, and enjoys financial support and a partnership with the San Francisco 49ers football team.

"This school also works for other reasons," says Love Davis, an RDTA member. "We are able to provide students with individual attention. We have tutors from Stanford University and the Boys Club. Our students do community service. We are like a family here."

While some of the students — especially boys — grumble about being separated from the opposite sex, Love Davis believes they gain more than they lose. "If anything, they gain a lot of respect and understanding for the opposite gender."

The Jefferson Leadership Academy in Long Beach also has single-gender classes, but allows boys and girls to share some electives and lunchtime. Teachers say the program works well, but that boys are still lagging behind. Like other schools in California, Jefferson has suffered from budget cutbacks and has had to increase class size.

It took some getting used to when the school converted from a traditional program to mostly single-gender, recalls Bob Clark, a math and science teacher who belongs to the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB). "It caused quite an upheaval, but now kids are used to it."

"It has advantages and disadvantages," says Justin Ring, a sixth-grader. "It's kinda better in class because you don't have to look at girls and you can do your work. But it's not good because you're maybe not going to be able to relate to girls."

One disadvantage Clark and other teachers have noticed is that boys tend to be a bit unrulier without the calming effect of girls. "Girls tend to civilize guys and keep the place from turning into a locker room," he explains. "Without girls, they are a little sillier. But it's nothing that a good teacher shouldn't be able to handle. If the boys are getting a little bit squirrelly, I have them stretch and take a few deep breaths. Then they can refocus and get back on task."

"I think it's easier to discipline the boys and girls when they are separate," says David Michaels. "Also there is less socializing going on in the room because they are not competing for attention from the opposite sex."

Until the late 1970s, physical education classes were separated by gender. But with the passage of Title IX, most public schools have coed PE classes. At Jefferson, however, boys and girls are separated.

"When you can decrease the range of abilities by only having one gender, you can do a better job of addressing everyone's needs," says PE teacher Stephanie Sasaki. "By the time they are in middle school, the development gap is really starting to show. And with a cap of 54 kids, it's a pretty big class, so anything helps."

There is one disadvantage, says Sasaki. "I miss working with the boys."

Fellow PE teacher Tami San Jose believes that separate physical education classes are an advantage for girls, who are more self-conscious about their bodies and doing physical activities in front of boys.

"One day we had a test for pushups. It was raining and the boys came into the gym. It changed the whole atmosphere. The girls didn't want to perform. It's a strange age. I always tell them they look beautiful. I tell them they should look in the mirror and say three positive things about themselves."

She likes the single-gender concept so much that she would like to see the district take it to the next step. "I think eventually there should be separate campuses," she says. "That would really be great."