There is mounting evidence that girls and boys learn very differently, and that girls do benefit from single-gender education, especially in the high school years.
Reports such as the American Association of University Women's How Schools Shortchange Girls and David and Myra Sadker's Failing at Fairness conclude that:
- Girls are not as well served by the coeducational learning environment as boys are.
- They receive less teacher attention and find fewer reflections of themselves in the curriculum.
- Their unique learning styles and ways of knowing are often ignored.
A Harvard Graduate School of Educational Research concludes that single-sex education is a proven advantage for girls. Here are their key findings:
- Young women attending an all-female high school show greater educational and personal gains than young men and women in co-educational schools.
- According to the study, young women
enrolled in all-female schools:
- set higher educational goals;
- set higher educational goals;
- perceive themselves as being in control of their own choices, values and quality of life;
- hold more positive attitudes about
school;
achieve at significantly higher levels in reading and science; - overcome traditional sex-role stereotypes;
- show greater acceptance of friends who do well academically;
- have fewer absences and discipline
problems; and
do more homework and watch less television.
A Yankelovich National Survey confirms past research findings:
- A girl's school education gives young women a significant edge over their peers in all facets of life.
- Young women are more self confident as a result of their all-girls school experience.
- A single-sex education helped girls better focus on academics and encouraged them to test their intellectual limits.
Two recent Chicago Tribune articles, "Boys And Girls In A Class Apart" and "Equality in Separateness," summarized the trends in single-sex education and the benefits it provides girls:
- Amid evidence that males and females learn differently, more educators are embracing the idea of separate but equal.
- The single-sex movement has gained momentum in the last few years in light of research showing that adolescent girls and boys in general learn differently.
- The number of women attending single-sex schools has increased 15 percent in the last 10 years.
- In the last three years, 27 independent and public schools for girls have been established, and more than a dozen school districts have begun offering single-sex classes.
- Math and science are areas girls struggle most in and show up least in as adults.
- A single-sex environment will help girls turn toward those subjects.
- As the theory goes, boys at this age tend to outshine girls in math and science, while girls outperform boys in reading. Separating them, educators say, cuts down on hormone-driven distractions with the opposite sex and allows teachers to focus better on each group's strengths and weaknesses.
At Woodlands Academy, the value of a single-sex education is enhanced by our unique educational approach:
- Girls are always at center stage. They must participate, take charge and get involved.
- The faculty has a keen sense of the importance of an all girls' environment and knows the benefits they derive from being in a single gender school.
- The "can do" atmosphere at Woodlands yields lifelong rewards. Our students and alums are confident learners, critical thinkers and self-starters.
- Our students are enthusiastic participants in math and science, able learners and contributing team players.
- There are fewer social pressures and less distractions, therefore, learning is the priority.
- Students at Woodlands become confident and assertive young adults, resulting in their self-reliance and self-direction.
