Boys And Girls Should Not Be Segregated
According to TAU Research
April 14, 2008
Boys and girls may learn differently, but American parents should think twice
before moving their children to sex-segregated schools. A new Tel Aviv
University study has found that girls improve boys' grades markedly at school.
"Being with more girls is good for everybody," says Prof. Analia
Schlosser, an economist from the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv
University. "We find that both boys and girls do better when there are more
girls in the class." She investigated girls and boys in mixed classrooms in
the elementary, middle, and high-school grades of the Israeli school system.
In an unpublished paper, Prof. Schlosser concluded that classes with more than
55 percent of girls resulted in better exam results and less violent outbursts
overall. "It appears that this effect is due to the positive influence the
girls are adding to the classroom environment," says Prof. Schlosser. She
carried out the study while on a post-doctoral fellowship at Princeton
University, and will study the effects of gender in higher education lecture
halls next.
This is one of few studies of its kind to use scientific data to address the
question of gender effects in school.
The Report Card
Boys with more female peers in their classes show higher enrollment rates in
both advanced math and science classes, but overall benefits were found in all
grades for both sexes.
Prof. Schlosser found that primary-school classrooms with a female majority
showed increased academic success for both boys and girls, along with a notable
improvement in subjects like science and math. In the middle schools, girls were
found to have better academic achievement in English, languages and math. And in
high school, the classrooms which had the best academic achievements overall
were consistently those that had a higher proportion of girls enrolled.
An Educated Guess
A higher percentage of girls lowers the amount of classroom disruption and
fosters a better relationship between pupils and their teacher, a study of the
data suggests. Teachers are less tired in classrooms with more girls, and pupils
overall seem to be more satisfied when a high female-to-male ratio persists.
Prof. Schlosser was inspired to the study by a "renewed interest on the
effects of classroom gender composition on students' learning, since a new
amendment to America's Title IX regulations gives communities more flexibility
in providing single-sex classes and schools."
Prof. Schlosser concludes that American educators should reconsider the effects
of the new trend of same-sex segregation on different sectors of society. Gains
for girls from classroom gender segregation could be offset by the loss of boys.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's largest and most
comprehensive center of higher learning. It is ranked among the world's top 100
universities in science, biomedical studies, and social science, and rated one
of the world's top 200 universities overall. Internationally recognized for the
scope and groundbreaking nature of its research programs, Tel Aviv University
consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
Source: George Hunka
American Friends
of Tel Aviv University
Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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