Failing Georgia School District Changes to Single-Gender Approach

Thanks, Lori, for the article from AJC.com about Georgia's Green County's schools switching to single-gender education starting next fall. I'll bet it gets sabotaged before then. Parents are apparently upset because they won't have a choice.

They should have been upset when their kids were failing.

I'm not sure this is the way it should be done, but they certainly can't do any worse that they've been doing with their current program. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Here's some of the story:

Students in all of Greene County's regular public schools will be separated by gender starting next fall, a move educators hope will improve rock-bottom test scores and reduce teen pregnancy and discipline rates in the small, rural system.

The school board approved the measure last week, drawing vocal protests from some students, parents and community members.... School officials say they need drastic change to save the low-performing district from slipping further behind the rest of the state.

One thing to note is that Leonard Sax, the man who wrote the bible on single-gender education, Why Gender Matters, is one of the most vocal critics:

Leonard Sax, head of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, said he knows of no other public school district that has switched entirely to single-gender classrooms.

"This is the worst kind of publicity for our movement," he said. "It misses the whole point. Our movement is about choice, about giving parents a choice. One size does not fit all. Even a small school district needs to provide choice."

He called the news of the school board's vote "very embarrassing."

The real embarrassment  is continuing to do something that isn't working.  However, I'm also sure it can be sabotaged. The girls who don't want to be in Lily's single-gender school simply flunk out.  If enough folks are against this, they can be sure it fails. Just like it's failing now. Only this time, they'll have someone or something to blame.

Comments

[Cheryl]

Interesting. Girls and Boys boarding school in a public school. Kind of reminds me of growing up in my church. The boys sat on one side and the girls on another side...never to mix. This seems extreme, but I will be interested to see if it works! Perhaps letting God be a part of our schools again might be even a better plan.