Debating Single-Sex Education

Frances R. Spielhagen, Ph.D., is associate professor of education and director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Development at Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY. Dr. Spielhagen is Editor-in-Chief of the Middle Grades Research Journal.

Although single-sex schools have been around for a very long time, the US Department of Education did not formally determine their legality until 2006. Since then, they have continually grown in popularity. In this revised and expanded second edition, 11 veteran educators continue the debate on both the efficacy and the value of single-sex education. Beyond the statistical data from Africa and the US, the authors offer case studies, student interviews, and well-aimed comments on the evidence of effectiveness on student achievement. Contributors consider topics from the early history of single-sex classes in the US to current findings and their implications in the final chapters; from religious, social, and cultural contexts for gender segregation to the legal questions and cases that have dogged this topic; and from a careful examination of the cognitive and developmental differences in genders to issues of bullying and category-specific behavioral problems. Spielhagen has done an admirable job of compiling an array of articulate and interesting voices. The ten surprising conclusions in chapter 14, plus the recommendations offered there, are worth the price of the book and are must reads on this topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and above.

• Preface: The Debate Continues: Single Sex Classes in the 21st CenturyFrances SpielhagenIntroduction to the Second EditionFrances SpielhagenContext and BackgroundChapter 1-School choice -- or threat to civil liberties?Frances Spielhagen and Robin KohlChapter 2-Do boys and girls learn differently? Implications for practiceMichael GurianChapter 3-Bullying and Single-Sex classesFrances Spielhagen and Vivian MilczarskiChapter 4-Single-sex parochial schools for Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic Children: Why, or why not?Bruce CooperEarly ResearchChapter 5-Jumping into the fray: How to implement single sex classesDeborah Marks and C. Sloan BurnsChapter 6-Bumps along the way: Mistakes made and lessons learnedSuzanne Schwarz-McCotterChapter 7-Going the distance: Strategies for teacher preparationMargaret FerraraChapter 8-Does it all add up? Single sex classes and student achievementFrances SpielhagenChapter 9-Good news and bad news: Student behavior in single sex classesMargaret Ferrara and Peter FerraraChapter 10-Having it our way:Students speak out on single sex classesFrances SpielhagenChapter 11-The Influence of Classroom Dynamics on Teachers’ Decisions to Provide Single Gender Mathematics and Science Classes in Middle SchoolKaren B. RogersChapter 12- The view from the trenches: Teachers evaluate single-sex classesFrances R. SpielhagenChapter 13-“We’ve always done it this way.”Single sex classes in KenyaRobin KohlSynthesis and ResourcesChapter 14-Now what? Implications for practiceKaren RogersChapter 15-Resources on bullyingVivian Milczarski