IDAHO Single-gender classes getting an A+

Elective courses -- such as art, band and homeroom -- remain mixed.
KIMBERLY, Idaho (AP) -- Mr. O'Donnell's sixth-grade class asks a lot of questions about their social studies assignments. So many, in fact, that he has to stop them just so he can explain their next task.
It's one of the benefits, he says, of the single-gender classes the public Kimberly Middle School switched to this year.
Now, in math, science, social studies and English, sixth-grade pupils are segregated into all-boy and all-girl groups. Though the latest testing data aren't back, leaving school officials with no measurable way to judge whether the system works, teachers and pupils alike say the system has helped them do better work.
It's a welcome change from years past, Jim O'Donnell said, when pupils were more focused on social studies of a different kind -- interaction with the opposite sex.
"I use a lot of interaction with the kids, and in my mixed classes, the boys really dominated the conversation," he said. "Now all the students are really eager to speak. We have fewer classroom problems with more focus on academic performance."
Teachers came up with the idea after they heard a lament from a high school teacher.
"The teacher said, 'If we could just separate boys and girls, we could get a lot more teaching done,"' said Lani Tingey, who teaches English at the middle school.
"I had just heard about a school in another state that was trying exactly that, and we decided to do some research to see if it would be a good idea here."
They didn't find much.
Some studies
Several studies suggest that girls begin to ask fewer questions as they reach sixth grade, but few researchers have considered the effects of single-gender classes on boys, Tingey said.
Rene Folse, a psychologist and special education child advocate from Thousand Oaks, Calif., said research on the subject is limited.
"There aren't a lot of conclusive studies about what environment produces a better educational result. The claimed advantage to single-gender classes is that a less distracting environment is more conducive to learning," he said. "But where do you get the learning to get along with opposite-sex peers? It's still a debatable issue."
Still, Folse applauds the school's effort to improve its pupils' learning opportunities. "It makes me happy that they may study it or compare scores for the next three years or so to see if it helps," he said.
Tingey said it just seems like good common sense.
"This is the age when kids have a lot of insecurity around male-female interaction," she said. They're still kids even though society encourages them to mature faster. The classes let the boys relax and not try to impress the girls, and the girls like it because they're not afraid to ask questions," Tingey said.
The teachers approached principal Judy Watson, who agreed and sent letters to parents explaining the change.
"I've not had a single parent who wasn't happy with it," Watson said. "In fact, we've decided to move it into the seventh grade next year, too."
How it's done
Boy and girls receive identical curriculums in the single-gender courses. But not all the classes are segregated. Elective courses -- such as art, band and homeroom -- remain mixed.
"Students learn socialization, self-resourcefulness and organization in school as well as their classwork. So, to put kids totally in single-gender situations doesn't appeal to us," Watson said.
That approach minimizes any disadvantages that may come from single-gender classes, said Folse.
"I think that's a very good way to do it. A blended program gives you the best of both worlds," he said.
The transition has been natural for the pupils, O'Donnell said. And behavior has improved.
Edie Jones, an 11-year-old who hopes to be an architect or some sort of engineer, said she's glad her core classes are separated.
"I think it helps you learn. Sometimes you get embarrassed around the boys. In our English class, we had an assignment about embarrassing things your parents did to you," Edie said, "and I know some girls told things they wouldn't have told if boys were there."
It's easier to pick work partners, she said, because the girls are not worried about getting stuck with a boy. Her grades have improved this year -- up to an "A" in science from last year's "B" -- which she attributes to the single-gender atmosphere.
Plenty of interaction with the opposite sex remains, Edie said.
"I think there are still people who go out with each other, and they pass notes still. That happens about the same," she said. "But this kind of helps you from getting distracted by looking at the boys."