On That’ll Teach ‘Em, the boys and girls were split into separate classes to see if keeping the sexes apart had an effect on grades. Some of the pupils found this approach draconian and resented the system whereas others said they could see the benefits. Here, teacher and journalist, Mandy Richards, explores the state of modern schooling to discover if single sex classes really work.
All Things Being Equal
In The Times top 450 state schools listings for 2005, an equal number of boys and girls schools featured in the top ten, with the highest ranking schools of all being mixed (or co-educational). The results based on average A-level points per candidate gave co-ed schools poll positions 1-3. Of the remaining seven top ten slots three girls schools secured positions 4, 6 and 10, whilst the three boys schools featured were only slightly outranked, taking 7th, 8th & 9th spots.
All ten institutions, unsurprisingly, were selective grammar schools. Of the top ten comprehensive schools listed only two single sex schools ranked, both girls’ schools. So, if mixed schools are coming out consistently on top, why is it that the gender debates on how best to educate boys and girls continue to spin?
Battle Of The Sexes
Closer scrutiny of who comes out on top within those very successful mixed schools could shed further light on current arguments surrounding the intellectual battle of the sexes. Top set girls can often find themselves in female dominated classes as fewer boys consistently fail to make the grade.
Though much is made of girls out-performing boys now, the phenomenon has been emerging through the past five decades. Boys have traditionally done well in the sciences, maths and technology, but across the board, girls, particularly those from working class backgrounds have, through successive generations, performed better than their male peers.