Female Supremacy Articles - Page 5

Screen 6 of 14

At Byron Center Middle, staff will convene this summer to hash out ideas for addressing the gap, such as starting a leadership course at elementary and middle grades. And Principal Bob Noordeloos is hovering on the edge of calling for a single-sex approach, creating separate classes for boys and girls.

Separate classrooms

A northern Michigan educator says the idea works, especially at the middle school level.

"The teachers see a big difference in attitudes. Boys not showing off for the girls, girls speaking up because there are no boys they don't want to be embarrassed in front of, and same with guys. They see a lot of kids blossoming," said Tony Basanese, principal of Pellston Middle School.

The school for the past six years has let parents choose whether to put their child in single-sex classes -- language arts, math, science, social studies -- or co-ed classes. Most choose the single-sex setting. Kids are put back in a mixed setting at eighth grade.

Pellston is one of three middle schools in Michigan to have single-sex classrooms, among 29 such schools in the nation. In addition, there are 17 single-sex public schools in the country, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. And proponents expect the numbers to grow after the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 clarified it is acceptable for public schools to offer such classrooms, and even provides a coffer of funds districts can tap.