Atlanta Schools Experiment With Single-Gender Campuses

There are many studies that both support and denounce the practice of single-gender schools. For many years, colleges and universities were all divided based on gender. Throughout history, boys were able to receive formal schooling, while girls were expected to remain at home and learn both the domestic arts as well as the finer skills of catching a husband.

Single-gender schools fell out of popularity in the 1970s but are enjoying a resurgence in this century. Many people - Atlanta Schools educators and parents alike - believe that sending their children to a single-gender school will ensure that they will receive the best possible Atlanta Schools education.

Is this true? Well, many people believe so. The benefits of receiving an Atlanta Schools education at a single-gender location are:

• they improve student performance
• they significantly increase graduation rates
• they produce a higher number of students who attend college

These are all admirable claims. Let's look at them a little more closely.

Single-gender Atlanta Schools Improve Student Performance

How can simply sitting in an Atlanta public schools' class with all boys or all girls improve performance? Well, there's the obvious; if there are no boys in your Atlanta Schools' class (or girls), you are less likely to be concerned with your appearance, flirting, who is dating who or if your make-up looks right. For another thing, when students are sitting in class with everyone who is the same gender as they are, they are more likely to think outside of the box. Literally.

Whether we want to admit it or not, there is gender stereotyping going on every single day in Atlanta Schools that are coed. It's pretty much unavoidable, even though many Atlanta Schools teachers and staff are cognizant of the problem and try to avoid it. For some reason, our brains naturally assume that boys are going to be better and more interested in math and science, and that girls are better equipped for language and fine arts. In reality, both girls and boys have the capabilities to excel in all of these areas, but often succumb to what is socially expected of them instead of following their hearts (and minds) towards learning about what's most interesting to them.

Increased Graduation Rates and More College Enrollment

Atlanta Schools' students who are attending a single-gender school may be more likely to reach these goals. Since they've not been held back from participating in subject areas that they may not have otherwise attempted, they find themselves to be well-rounded scholars who graduate high school easily. They are coveted by higher institutes of learning. No one can deny that these two benefits of single-gender Atlanta Schools are among the main goals of public education in the first place. As the Atlanta Schools are willing to try different approaches, their students are more likely to succeed. In this case, anyway, the chance seems to be paying off.