Coral Community Charter School is a public school in Albuquerque with single-gender classrooms, serving grades from preschool to fifth grade. This school understands the importance of equity. Boys and girls have different needs and they understand the importance of kids being provided with resources based on those needs. However, what is the point and why is this important?
First, Lori Bachman is the head of Coral Community Charter School and has been very involved in the educational community. She has a Master’s Degree in educational leadership. She also has thirteen years of experience teaching and fifteen years as an educational leader. When asked why this school has single-gender classrooms, she says, “We want to provide equitable resources for both boys and girls, remove barriers to learning and smash stereotypes to pieces.” Keeping kids from dropping out is another reason Bachman gave for the single-gender classrooms at Coral. But what kids this young would be dropping out of school anyway?
Additionally, in 2013, Superintendent Joshua Starr did a study identifying potential dropout rates in Montgomery County Public schools and found dropout indicators as far back as first grade. Boy’s and girl’s needs are tended to and prioritized more in single-sex classrooms. Other studies such as the Women’s Foundation of Colorado and the National Center for Education Studies, for example, show that boys and girls drop out for different reasons. Girls’ top reason for dropping out is an absence of community. “For boys ‘negative early experiences’ with discipline for behavior that research shows are ‘actually an attempt to stay alert and engaged,” such as moving around, can set the stage for dropping out later,” Bachman says.
Lastly, Boys and girls process information differently. Lori mentions pairing biology with an instructional approach as a way to keep each gender engaged:
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Boys rely more on magnocellular cells, which make spatial activity and graphic clues quickly accessible
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Boys will more likely make word connections with pictures and moving objects
“We can support their learning by allowing them to first draw the details of a story and then draft a written response,” she says.
In Conclusion, single-gender classrooms make a big difference. Boys and girls learn differently. The educational system is not geared toward the success of boys but Coral Community Charter School is on the right track to making changes. With this system in place, boys and girls can thrive and succeed with confidence.
Lewis, A. (2022, March 1). Education matters: Single gender classrooms. The Paper. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://abq.news/2022/03/education-matters-single-gender-classrooms/
Read the original article here.