Student, parent, teacher survey results show support for single-gender classes

South Carolina students, parents and teachers continue to give positive reviews to single-gender classes that are increasingly popular across the state.

More than 5,000 students in single-gender programs, 720 of their parents and 680 of their teachers responded to a spring 2009 survey by the South Carolina Department of Education.  Students and teachers said that single-gender classes had increased student self-confidence and class participation, and parents added that the classes had increased their children’s sense of independence and academic productivity.

Nearly three-fifths of the students indicated that single-gender classes had increased their grades, self-confidence, interest in trying new ways of learning, class participation and ease in making friends.

These survey results show pretty clearly why South Carolina schools are trying to offer single-gender classes, said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.  Students, teachers and parents think they work.  In schools where they are available, they’re a popular option.

Expanding curriculum choices within public schools is a priority for Rex, who created an Office of Public School Choice at the Education Department and hired the nation’s first statewide single-gender coordinator to help local districts introduce the concept and make it operate effectively. 

More than 150 South Carolina public schools – more than any other state in the nation – offer the single-gender option to parents, many of them as partially autonomous operations within existing schools.  Rex also has hired experts in Montessori and charter school development to help spur those innovations.

 Current curriculum choices across South Carolina include magnet programs, schools-within-schools, alternative schools, virtual schools and charter schools. Some of the state’s public school choice programs include single-gender initiatives, middle college/early college, Montessori education, charter schools, evening high school, language immersion, academic academies, arts integration and international baccalaureate programs.

Background on the survey

David Chadwell, the Education Department’s single-gender coordinator, said South Carolina’s student surveys are believed to be the first of their kind in the nation.  Participants were asked to indicate the levels of change they had noticed in such things as student self-confidence, motivation, independence, participation, enjoyment of school, completing class work and homework, and ability to pay attention.

Survey respondents were asked if single-gender classes had increased, decreased or had no effect on various aspects of school.  For example: Have your single-gender classes increased, decreased or had no effect on your class participation?

Chadwell said the survey was posted on the Education Department’s web site during April and May 2009, and all schools with single-gender programs were informed that students, parents and teachers could fill out survey responses on line.  Participants came from 133 elementary, middle and high schools across the state.  

The Education Department released only statewide results because the numbers of responses from individual schools were too small to be of statistical value, said Chadwell, who added that 2008 and 2009 results could not be compared because of improvements to the survey that
employed different questions to provide more detailed responses.    

Study highlights

Students
– Girls tended to indicate increases at a higher percentage than boys (50-70 percent and 40-60 percent, respectively).
– Girls’ highest increases were in self-confidence (65 percent), independence (66 percent) and class participation (66 percent).
– Boys’ highest increases were in independence (58 percent), self-efficacy (54 percent), grades (54 percent), and making friends (54 percent).Among ethnic groups, – African-Americans had the highest levels of increases in all categories.
– Early-grade elementary students indicated increases at a higher rate (70-90 percent) than upper-grade elementary students (60-80 percent), upper-grade elementary students indicated increases at higher rates than middle school students (50-60 percent), and middle school students indicated increases at higher rates than high school students (20 – 50 percent).

Teachers
– The highest categories of increases noted by teachers of girls were in student self-confidence (91 percent) and participation (91 percent).
– The highest categories of increases for teachers of boys were in participation (85 percent) and self-confidence (76 percent).
– Teachers of elementary students indicated increases at higher levels than middle school teachers, and middle school teachers indicate increases at higher levels than high school teachers (83 percent, 77 percent and 69 percent, respectively).
– Math teachers indicated increases at higher percentages than teachers of English Language Arts (second), science (third) and social studies (fourth).  Those percentages were 80, 79, 77 and 66, respectively.

Parents
– About two-thirds of parents indicated that single-gender classes had been a factor in improving their child’s experience in each of the categories.
– The categories with the highest levels of agreement for parents were self-confidence (69 percent), self-efficacy (68 percent) and independence (68 percent).
– More than three-quarters of parents indicated they were satisfied with their children’s single-gender classes.  Only 13 percent indicated dissatisfaction.
– Parents of girls consistently indicated increases at higher percentages than parents of boys (48-76 percent and 47-65 percent, respectively).
– African-American and Hispanic parents consistently indicated increases at higher percentages than Caucasian parents (61-73 percent and 59-86 percent, respectively).  Parents reporting decreases typically were below 20 percent for all groups.
– Elementary school parents and middle school parents tended to indicate increases at similar levels, typically 65-80 percent.  High school parents indicated increases at the lowest levels, (typically 30-45 percent), and no change at the highest levels (typically between 40-55 percent).