Separate boys and girls classes at a DeLand elementary school have scored big gains on the FCAT, officials say.
Erika Hobbs
Sentinel Staff Writer
Published in the Orlando Sentinel, September 30, 2005, pp. A1, A9.
DeLAND -- Woodward Elementary School's experiment with single-gender classes is showing that students who studied with only girls or only boys outperform their co-ed peers.
Last year, Principal Jo Anne Rodkey introduced single-sex classes to kindergarten, second- and fourth-grade classes. Their scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test showed remarkable results.
Only about half of Woodward's fourth-graders in mixed classes last year scored at grade level or higher. But 91 percent of the all-boys class scored at grade level or higher, as did 83 percent of the all-girls class.
In reading, slightly more than 70 percent of fourth-graders in traditional classes read at grade level, while a little more than 80 percent of those in the single-sex classes did. Other standardized tests showed similar results.
"We were thrilled," said Mary Michaels, who teaches second-grade boys.
Woodward is the only public elementary school in Florida to offer single-sex classes. Volusia Superintendent Margaret A. Smith said she expects that results from the two-year pilot program will be good enough to expand the concept countywide. Several other schools already have asked to take part, she said, and may be able to next fall.
According to the National Association for Single-Sex Education in Poolesville, Md., 193 public schools nationwide offer single-sex formats; of those, 42 are single-gender schools.
In 2004, Chain of Lakes Middle School in southwest Orlando temporarily tried dividing eighth-grade math classes by gender, but the test program was shut down amid concerns that the move did not comply with federal law, said Frank Kruppenbacher, attorney for Orange County Public Schools.
But middle and high schools in Duval, Broward, Boynton Beach and Palm Beach Gardens do offer single-sex classes. Several, including Odyssey Middle in Boynton Beach, boast improved test scores. Miami-Dade is so impressed that Superintendent Rudy Crew is considering opening Florida's first single-gender magnet schools for grades seven to 12.
"Nationally, it's a trend," Smith said. "You'll be seeing a lot more single-gender offerings coming up."
A 2004 federal No Child Left Behind provision permits schools to offer single-gender classes as long as they are voluntary, fair and substantially equal. It amended the 32-year-old Title IX law that permitted single-sex classes only in a few, specific cases, such as physical education.
Rodkey didn't introduce single-gender classes to Woodward because students there needed the help. The DeLand school, despite its high number of low-income children, has been awarded an "A" by the state four consecutive years.
And contrary to what many people assumed, she also didn't do it to give girls an edge.
She did it for the boys.
"We just don't seem to be meeting their needs," she said.
A 2004 U.S. Department of Education study of gender equity showed that girls have made great gains since the 1970s, when Title IX was written. But a significant achievement gaps still remains between the sexes.
The study showed that boys are more likely to be retained or to drop out of school. Girls are more likely to enroll in college.
Deborah Roberts, a fifth-grade boys teacher who helped spearhead Woodward's program, said she has wanted to test the concept for years.
"School just wasn't boy-friendly," the 25-year teaching veteran said. "You know we just wanted boys to sit still in their seats and all that, and they're just not able to do that," she said.
Then, as they grow older, flirting kicks in.
"Year after year it was more difficult to keep [boys] engaged," she said.
Research, Roberts and Rodkey said, shows that the two genders learn differently: Boys develop math skills first; for girls, it's reading. Boys need loud environments, while girls need softer ones. Boys follow simple, step-by-step directions best, while girls can multitask.
This year, Woodward offers voluntary separated classes in kindergarten, first, second and fifth grades. Traditional classes are still taught for those grades, and the children mix during lunch, recess and other activities.
But the idea isn't popular with everyone.
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and National Organization for Women say separating genders is discriminatory and perpetuates stereotypes. Rodkey canceled plans for a gender-based fourth-grade class because of a lack of interest from parents. Plus, many teachers aren't interested in teaching them, she added.
Woodward's teachers point out that some of the classes run an extra hour and rely on supplemental teaching techniques that could have affected test scores. Although the number of students is too low to conduct a study, Rodkey and the teachers think that separating the genders played the greater role than the other factors.
Debbie Jolly of DeLand had reservations before she enrolled her daughter Calysta in Woodward's girls-only kindergarten class last year.
"I thought it was crazy," she said.
But after she listened to Rodkey explain how girls and boys learn differently, she acquiesced.
And she's glad she did.
"She reads like a third-grader," Jolly said. Her daughter is now in Woodward's first-grade all-girls class.
For Calysta, the choice was simple.
"Boys are too rough," she said, wrinkling her nose.
