One Florida middle school is so satisfied with their experiment in sex-segregated classes that they've expanded to include most students, in every grade:
Boys and girls will be seeing even less of each other when school starts next month at Odyssey Middle School. The school's sex-separation experiment will expand to include the majority of students in every grade. Ninety percent of sixth-graders, 70 percent of seventh-graders and 60 percent of eighth-graders at the 1,200-student school will be in boys- or girls-only classes.
Parents have the option of choosing mixed classes if they disapprove of the program.
Although standardized test scores did not significantly improve among the 270 students whose classes were sex-segregated last year, behavior problems plummeted...
Plummeting behavior problems is always a good thing, and I applaud Odyssey for being willing to strike out and try something different (or, in this case, something that was the norm way back when). In this day and age, though, any attempts to move towards sexual segregation would have to take into account, at least in California, the upswing in students who are changing sexualities - and genders - while still in school. Should segregation be done by actual sex? Perceived gender? Or none of the above? Would students experience less harassment if they were placed in classes with the gender they identify with, rather than the one they are?
Whew. All the issues that your one-room schoolteacher never had to deal with, way back when....
Posted by kswygert at July 26, 2004 04:18 PM