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| Author: Gabriel |
The sixties were the time when a shift towards coeds occurred. It was the time when feminism and other forces compelled many all-girl establishments to close or merge with boys-only schools. The educational system in the United States seemed intent on 'homogenizing education'. This discouraged diversity by stamping out schools that are off the beaten track. Girls-only schools were all but eliminated, baring a few exceptions. Coeds were perceived to be the progressive and informed choice. But recent decades has seen a reversal of that trend.
Academic performance in all-girls schools
It is widely understood that in coed schools, girls are called on less often and speak up less frequently than boys. By the time they reach high school, their interest in science and math is especially weakened. Though girls 'high-school grades are higher than boys', they perform poorer in high-stakes tests that are taken for college admissions.
When, in the seventies and eighties, feminist educationists began to draw attention to the question of girls' underachievement in areas such as physics and math, it was noticed that their exam results were much better in single-sex schools. Of the various setups, Girls' schools are generally found to perform best, mixed schools next, and boys' schools least effectively."
This has resulted in increased popularity of girls-only schools. After the segregation policy was widely implemented parents, staff and even pupils attested to its merits. Of course, the only people who dissented were 13 and 14-year-old boys 'disgruntled at being separated from the girls'. There is also the theory that coed classes are difficult to teach than single-sex ones. This is so because teenagers are more involved in trying to impress each other than concentrate on what is being taught. This assessment is generally true. Even the pupils agree that they 'work better without the distraction of the opposite sex'.
Girls display more self-confidence and participate more in typically male dominated subjects like mathematics and pure sciences in single-sex schools. However, single-sex schools prove more advantageous to girls than boys. Girls are discriminated against in coeds. This happens less in girls-only schools. Girls also benefit from lack of harassment and intimidation by boys. Most importantly, teachers found it more comfortable to handle single-sex classes as opposed to mixed-classes.
There is strong evidence for the following facts. Girls, by their nature are more disciplined and less disruptive and thus are better learners. Girls generally do better in regular exams, which reflect on their average grades. This performance is diminished in a coed setup, where boys tend to do better. High and middle-ability students do well irrespective of the system. There is a notable correlation between grades and social background of girls. Also, schools vary in the overall effectiveness of education that they provide.
Personal and Social Development
Girls are also subject to sexual harassment and the beating their self-confidence takes as a result can haunt for the rest of their lives.
Single-sex schools offer girls the chance to develop a sense of themselves as leaders, risk-takers and strong individuals; a respite from the bombardment of demeaning or overly sexualized cultural messages; and state-of-the-art learning facilities, especially in the crucial areas of science and technology, where girls continue to lag. They built an arsenal of teaching strategies that capitalize on girls' learning preferences and encourage intellectual daring. As the decade went on, the effectiveness of these techniques was reinforced when independent research confirmed distinct differences in boys' and girls' learning styles.
There is strong evidence supporting both long and short term advantages with regard to achievement, self-esteem and leadership qualities'. It is also asserted that the three C's of competence, confidence and connectedness flourish in such a setup.
To be a successful adult in today's world requires that girls and boys master a complex, ever-growing set of skills. So, it makes a lot of sense to give them the psychological and physical space they need in order to do so.
It is claimed that single sex schools encourage gender stereotyping, but such claims never come from women who actually attended the schools. To the contrary, these schools dispel gender stereotypes by giving pupils a chance to do everything and be everything, from being the editor of the paper to taking administrative positions within the academy. Another reason supporting single-sex schooling is that it takes away the anxiety of how pupils look, which aids in concentration.
Another valid reason to support girls' schools is the protection it offers young women from the hyper-sexualization of our society, which is propagated mainly through television. These schools also keep teen pregnancy in check. An interesting fact is girls have less confidence and more negative views of their appearance than boys, irrespective of the kind of school they attend.
The quality of teacher-student interaction has a significant impact on personal and social development, including stress. Stress levels were found to be high. Reported positive input by teachers (e.g. frequency of giving praise) has significant effects. Coeducation has little impact on student stress levels. Girls report much higher levels of stress than boys within both single-sex and coeducational schools. And the absence of boys means girls hold every leadership post, from editor of the newspaper to school president.
Psychological and Emotional Factors
Girls prefer collaboration over competition when solving problems. Taking this into account modern girls-only schools keep the classes small, which allows for plenty of speaking time. This also fulfils their need for staying emotionally connected. For example, girls pair up to study math. In the science classroom they form groups around tables for hands-on experiments, which research has shown, play a large part in helping girls to learn science.
The world moves quite fast nowadays and children are under pressure to grow up too soon. In this situation single-sex schools allow girls to be themselves a little while longer. What girls' schools offer best is the passage of time when a teenage girl can focus entirely on herself
her dreams and aspirations, her emerging sense of who she is.
Some are sceptical about single-sex education, claiming that its accomplishments can also be attained in coed schools, provided other conditions are the same. Those conditions are good teachers, small classes, plentiful funding and highly motivated students, parents and staff.
Though the conditions may be the same in coed schools, it is also believed that the mere presence of boys has a repressive effect. Girls also find it easier to speak up in class when boys are not around. There are some less important advantages as well. For instance, girls take less time to dress up for a girls' school as opposed to an hour for a coed school.
This suggests that feeling integrated in the school community does function as a buffer against the stress-inducing processes of a coeducational environment. A segregated schooling environment, then, might be socially more desirable and beneficial for girls because of the fact that by virtue of a presumably higher level of cohesiveness, it provides better opportunities for meeting their need for group acceptance. Girls-only schools also are more selective in their admission of students, which creates a socio-economic as well as academic differential when compared to coeds. Single-sex schools also offer a specialized curriculum and employ innovative methods of imparting knowledge.
The negative effects of segregated schooling are relatively small and are mainly confined to a few specific aspects of school experience. Factors such as socio-economic background and individual ability as well as quality of the school continue to matter most, even if they are not as visible as the gender composition of a school. Single-sex setups display a contemporary nature and provide girls with more benefits. |
Author Bio:
Gabriel Rise is an expert writer at Essay writing service and a writing couselling department expert at dissertation writing service. The assistance of their writers is an invaluable input in your future professional growth.EssayCapital.com is dedicated to providing a custom essay writing service that is both top-quality and affordable. |
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