Parents, teachers and students say single-gender classes are effective

Ewing Middle and Mary Bramlett Elementary were on the cutting edge when the schools decided to teach boys and girls separately a year ago.

Parents and teachers made their own case on a state survey Thursday for encouraging more schools to offer single gender classes. More than 2,200 students, 181 parents and 178 teachers responded in April to a state Department of Education online survey.

Surveys were filled out by participants in schools that have single-gender education programs. This was a followup to a survey given to students in January.

Two-thirds of the students said single-gender classes helped them in school. Seventy five percent of parents and 80 percent of teachers agreed all-boys and all-girls classes are effective.

About 250 schools statewide plan to offer singlegender classes this coming school year. Ewing Middle and Mary Bramlett Elementary received state recognition for their single-gender education programs in May.

"Our first survey showed that kids generally like this approach," State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said in a news release Thursday. "This new survey adds feedback from parents and teachers, and it's even more positive than what we've been hearing from students. If you want to know why more schools are offering this option, the reason is right here in these survey responses."

A total of 41 schools sent in responses to the survey. The state Department of Education released only statewide results since the number of responses from individual schools was too small to be of statistical value.

South Carolina's student surveys are believed to the first of their kind in the nation, according to state single gender education coordinator David Chadwell.

Students were asked to agree or disagree with statements about how being in classes with all boys or all girls impact their success in school, self-confidence, interest in finding new ways to learn, behavior in school and grades.

Survey highlights included:

- As students move up through grades, their preference for all-boys and all-girls classes decrease. Fourth- and fifth-graders gave higher marks to the strategy than eighth graders.

- Among teachers in the main subjects, English teachers saw the biggest impact with single-gender classes.

- More parents of boys than parents of girls think single-gender classes have been a positive factor in their children's educations. Black students and parents gave even stronger endorsements than white students and parents.

Cherokee County School Superintendent Dr. Bill James said the survey results support the feedback the district has received on singlegender classes offered at Ewing Middle and Mary Bramlett Elementary.

"We have seen significant gains in achievement from students in single-gender classes," James said. "This is just one more tool in the arsenal for meeting the different needs and learning styles of our students. For some students, single-gender classes work very well."