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Washington, Sep 23 (IANS) Many
parents get their children admitted to single-sex schools in the
expectation that they would do better -- but that's just not the
case as research shows they do not improve performance.
The latest research demonstrates that segregation increases gender
stereotyping among children and teachers, and legitimises
institutional sexism.
Teaching boys and girls separately has become increasingly popular
during recent years with at least 500 public school single-sex
classrooms currently in the US, the journal Science reports.
"Though public sentiment may have strengthened in support of such
settings for improving the learning environment and outcomes for
both boys and girls, the science is just not there to support
this," said study co-author Richard Fabes.
Fabes is the director of the School of Social and Family Dynamics
in Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
according to a statement.
Similar large-scale reviews in Britain, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand found little overall difference between single-sex and
mixed-sex academic outcomes.
Differences among the sexes can grow in sex-segregated
environments, making positive interactions between boys and girls
constrained, the social scientists wrote.
"Separating boys and girls in public school classrooms makes
gender very salient, and this salience reinforces stereotypes and
sexism," Fabes said.
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