Single-sex classrooms aren't the answer

August 6, 2:36 PMDallas Educational Technology ExaminerElaine Plybon

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Dallas ISD will be experimenting with single-sex classrooms within coed schools for the 2009-2010 school year.

DISD made headline news five years ago when they opened their first single-sex school, Irma Rangel Leadership School for Girls. The school is said to be a success, citing higher test scores for the girls who have attended the school. As a result, some of the high schools in DISD will be having single-sex physics classes in an attempt to increase test scores and to increase the number of girls who pursue higher level physics classes.

Nobody can argue that better test scores are great. However, I believe that citing higher test scores as proof that single-sex education is the way to go is flawed thinking. Of course the girls score higher - they are not exposed to the gender bias that exists in most coed classrooms. They are encouraged by their teachers and parents to pursue avenues which have traditionally been male-dominated.

So what do I think the problem is with this? It's like putting a big, leafy plant over a large hole in the wall so that nobody can see it. If we were saying that hispanic students learn better in classrooms of only hispanic students, and we could provide test scores to prove it, would that make it the right thing to do? Change the word hispanic to white and see how you feel about it then.

The success of single-sex education highlights the real issue at hand and the problem that needs to be addressed: All students should be given fair treatment without stereotypes or ethnic or gender bias. If girls are scoring better in single-sex classrooms, that is because their coed classroom teachers are not aware of the differences in how they educate boys and girls. How about extensive training programs to help teachers to be able to recognize behaviors that may, over time, affect a girl's achievement in school. Let's make a move toward making all classrooms equitable, rather than segregating on the basis of sex. Diversity in the United States is one of the things that makes it such a great place to be. We should be taking steps toward celebrating our differences rather than segregating students based on them.