Welcome!

Thank you everyone!

I want to welcome all the visitors to this blog, which I hope you can use as a resource and a tool in selecting the best schools for your children. In this blog, I specifically delve into the school selection for girls and why single-sex schooling is the best option. However, I hope that by reading this blog, you can choose wisely the best decision for you and your child. The ultimate goal of this blog is to be informative enough for you as parents to weigh in all the factors possible. It is my intention to provide informative pieces, videos, and statistics that will aid you all in deciding your daughters' future educational institutions, which we all know is of utmost importance. Thank you once again for reading. Feel free to ask questions, post comments, and have fun exploring the blog!

But what happens to the boys?

With all the statistics pointing to the fact that single-sex schooling is quite advantageous for girls, a very important question to ask is: what happens to the boys? By taking females out of the picture and leaving only males in the classroom, what does this do? Is single-sex schooling only advantageous to females or do boys benefit too?

The New York Times published an article titled, "At Colleges, Women are Leaving Men in the Dust", it outlines the current problem with males attending traditional co-educational schools. 

The article states, "From the time they are young, boys are far more likely than girls to be suspended or expelled, or have a learning disability or emotional problem diagnosed. As teenagers, they are more likely to drop out of high school, commit suicide or be incarcerated. Such difficulties can have echoes even in college men...They have a sense of lassitude, a lack of focus," said William Pollack, director of the Centers for Men and Young Men at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School."

"Researchers say such differences make sense, given boys' experience in their earlier school years. And some experts argue that what is being seen as a boy problem is actually maleness itself, with the noisy, energetic antsiness and high jinks of young boys now redefined as a behavior problem by teachers who do not know how to handle them"

In an article from the National Education Association, it has been noted that certain male behaviors are corrected to maintain order and behavior among both the boys and girls. One may then logically deduce that an institution focused solely on male educational achievement, there are more teachers that are willing to "handle" these male issues presented that may be "overlooked" at co-ed schools. By focusing in and having a teaching approach that is explicitly intended for males, some of these negative trends on behalf of male college performance may be undone. 

Additionally, by eliminating the social factor of females, certain males behaviors such as those thought in biology to be "male instinctual" to "acquire a mate" may also be factored out. Males would no longer have the competitiveness such as "showing off to the ladies" and may be more inclined to focus more on academic achievement. 

Overall, males benefit from single-sex schools as well. Although differently than females, it can be seen that overall females and males have advantageous to going to single sex schools. So, can we logically say that single-sex schooling overall is the path to choose…whether it be for the benefit or females or males? 

Source: Lewin, Tamar. "At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust." The New York Times. The   

     New York Times, 08 July 2006. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

Source: Sikora, Joanna. "Gender Gap In School Science: Are Single-Sex Schools Important?." Sex 

     Roles 70.9/10 (2014): 400-415. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.

So what is STEM?

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a nationally recognized force that is known to engage women into fields such as engineering. The gender gap between males and females exists. But why? And what can we do to help reduce, if not eliminate this?

http://www.ngcproject.org/sites/default/files/media/aprwebcast10.mov

The above link is a video from the STEM official website on WHY there are so few women engaging in engineering fields. 

The fact that men are higher in numbers in engineering fields is not in question. This picture was taken from the University of Colorado from the College of Engineering webpage. Take a look at the picture, how many men do you see? How many women do you see?

STEM is a great program to collaborate with for young females interested in engineering and math related career fields.

For further details on STEM programs click on the link below

http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/stem-education/

Clear Differences

Before even getting into the argument behind single sex schools, let us take a look at statistics. The math is there, and research has shown that men do tend to outperform women in scores on standardized tests. Why? Well maybe we can't find a definitive answer. But what we can't ignore are the numbers showing the difference as seen below.

Now if this is the case, what should we do to try to change the gender gap when it comes to scoring on subjects stereotypically male dominated? The answer lies in maybe, just maybe, changing the approach and orient it to women, which can be done at an all-girls school. Essentially, psychology has told us that there are NO TRUE biological differences in the brain making girls "better in writing" and "boys better in math". The answer then lies in the environment.

Let's Hear it from the Girls!!!

Now who better to hear from then girls themselves.
These girls have actually gone through all girl high schools, a popular one called St. Mary's Academy.


How many times as parents have we heard or said ourselves to our parents, "No, you're wrong, that's the worst thing ever!" So many girls have a negative idea as to their all girls experience. But how many times have we realized as sons and daughters, that maybe, just maybe our parents were right and things turned out for the best. Let's let these girls tell us their experience themselves…

And the Questioning continues

According to the Texas Journal of Women and the Law, The AAUW (The American Association of University Women) report, entitled "How Schools Shortchange Girls states, "the quality of interaction between faculty and female students reaches its nadir in science classes, where teachers ask boys eighty percent more academically-related questions." 

Yet another study is outlined in this article outlining that "eighth-grade boys received eighty-six percent of the criticism and discipline in science classes and that they monopolized the discussion by yelling out questions and answers". 

The article goes as far as to mention that research has found elementary school boys to be more encouraged to partake in "more exploratory and large-motor activities than girls". This goes into the idea that teachers through this action prepares boys and not girls to do higher math. 

Source: Ramsey, Carolyn B. "Subtracting Sexism From The Classroom: Law And Policy In The Debate 
     Over All-Female Math And Science Classes In Public Schools." Texas Journal Of Women & The 
     Law 8.1 (1998): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

At many coed schools, it's not "cool" for kids to be excited about school. The game of who likes who, who's going out with who, who's cool and who's not, is what's really important at most coed schools. That's seldom the case at single-sex schools. Edison Trickett and Penelope Trickett, comparing students at private single-sex schools in the United States with students at private coed schools in the United States, found that students in the single-sex schools had a far more positive attitude toward academics than did students in coed schools. This finding held for both boys and girls. The students at the single-sex schools also developed better organizational skills, and were more involved in classroom activities.

Source: Edison Trickett, Penelope Trickett, et al. The independent school experience: aspects of the  
     normative environment of single-sex and coed secondary schools, Journal of Educational 
     Psychology, 74(3):374-381, 1982.

The point of these statistics are for us, as concerned individual to understand and fully know the argument and research done on behalf of all-girls schools. Hopefully you take a broad look into these accounts and articles to aid you in your school selection for your daughters. Please take the time to read these details, as we are all here for the good of your daughters, the youth, future leaders of society.

"The Never-Ending Controversy Over All-Girls Education"

"Pippa Biddle always said she would never attend an all-girls school. She reluctantly agreed to visit Miss Porter’s, an all-girls boarding school in Farmington, Connecticut, as a favor to her mom. But after spending one night at her mom’s former high school, she decided to apply. “Until you experience a single-sex classroom, it is hard to understand how beneficial it is,” Biddle, who’s 21 now, tells me. “I could wake up five minutes before class, pull on clothes, and feel just as beautiful as I would have with full hair and makeup. The value was put on who we were, not what we look like.”'

- The Never-Ending Controversy Over All-Girls Education, The Atlantic

This article is ideal in its analysis of the benefits or lack of benefits of single sex school. It is provides an unbiased analysis of current arguments. But best of all, it point out that there isn't concrete, hard-core science that can prove the benefits or detriments (if any exist) of all female schools. But because of this very aspect it finalizes its article with the question: "Does the fact that researchers can’t ethically conduct such studies mean students shouldn't experience the possible benefits of them?" 

Here is the link to access the entire article, please enjoy!

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-never-ending-controversy-over-all-girls-education/284508/

The Question of Attention

In an article from the National Education Association, statistics that were included were:

• Teachers valued boys' comments more than girls' comments. Teachers responded to girls with a simple nod or an OK, but they praised, corrected, helped, and criticized boys.
• Boys were encouraged to solve problems on their own, but teachers helped girls who were stuck on problems.

Now, the argument against these contentions are based on various factors. It is understandable to consider these statements objective. However, if we think about this logically, without all the numbers, it does tend to happen. If we remember how our elementary and middle school classes went, from early on we can remember that boys were the rambunctious ones, girls were more calm. Now as a parent consider this next scenario: You have Sally and Billy sitting in the car on the way to the grocery. Sally, a bit more calm is compliant to your rules. Billy on the other hand, is screaming, running around the store, grabbing everything in sight. As a parent, what am I going to do? I'm going to use my energy and my time and inevitably focus on Billy and his behavior. 

Let's just consider that one example, just one study. Yes it could have been Sally the rowdy one, the more energetic one. But stereotypically and more times than not, we often associate more rowdier behavior to males. All in all, stereotypes are not true in every case, but they do stem from the overall population. 

So what are parents to do? Let's try to eliminate or even reduce the possibilities of this being the truth. 

To read more, please follow the link below.

• https://www.nea.org/tools/17061.htm

Numbers Numbers Numbers!

The NCGS (National Coalition of Girls' Schools) has this great video on various aspects on the benefits of girls attending all-female schools. Let's take a look!

Say What?!

Let's take a look at what girls have to say about their experiences in all girls schools!

A Snippet As to Why Females for Single Sex- The Beginning

This just in...!

According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, "In coed schools, females are often stereotyped as being weak in math and science, and males are stereotyped as being weak in language arts. At single-sex schools, males and females can explore educational opportunities without being constrained by expectations, stereotypes or prejudices. For example, girls at single-sex schools are more likely to explore nontraditional subjects and are encouraged to be daring and invest in subjects they might otherwise not try, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education."

Overall, it is a fact that stereotypes exist within the academic realm based on gender, it is simply a fact that is not even up for discussion. Stereotypes do have psychological or even subconscious effects on individuals. Therefore, how can we, as a society, expect women to even want to engage in these fields when a preconceived stereotypical notion exists. Well the answer is simple: Let's eliminate the factor of co-education. 

For example, let's examine the following example. Sally is a bright young girl who is beginning her academic career. Logically speaking, as Sally's mother I must ask myself this question: Would I rather send my child to a school where she will be among other girls, learning the same subjects, but not be surrounded by boys and the ideas that they are "better in math"? Or simply send Sally to a co-ed school where Sally MIGHT choose to pursue math or run an even bigger risk of being intimidated by the stereotypes already in place, and enhanced by the fact that she goes to school with other males. Yes, we cannot guarantee that Sally will certainly choose to go into a male-dominated field or subject even at an all girls school, just the way we can't guarantee she wouldn't do so at a co-ed school. However, our social environments impact our outcomes. As humans, we are all social learners whose environment has great impact. If you ask me, I want to enhance my daughter's chances of actually wanting to enter which ever field she so chooses to, by eliminating the effects stereotypes has on her. The answer lies in school selection. 

Welcome everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog as I know many of you are hard working parents, which in itself is a full time job. With that said, I just wanted to invite you all to read my blog, feel free to ask questions, comments or concerns. The topics I'll be discussing and posting are going to be very much centered upon females in single sex schools and the various advantages this poses, in various aspects of their lives. My ultimate goal is to make this blog open and inviting but ultimately informative enough for especially the parents of young ladies who are "on-the-fence" in choosing either all-female or co-ed schools. It is my intention to provide informative pieces, videos, and statistics that will aid you all in deciding your daughters' future educational institutions, which we all know is of utmost importance. Thank you once again for reading, I'll be posting my very first blog here soon so stay tuned!