I just read an article from the Washington Post describing how a middle school in Northern Virginia will be piloting a voluntary program wherein students will attend single sex classes in the core academic areas. I laud this effort. Many students, both boys and girls, will – in my opinion – likely flourish in this new setting. I hope that this growing trend in K-12 education keeps growing. Unlike some critics of the idea, I do not believe that single-sex instruction leads to a confirmation of stereotypes. Rather, teachers are less able to ‘gloss’ over divergent learning styles. If a teacher knows that she is facing a class of all girls, or all boys, each day, then she will tailor her teaching to their styles. This brings up my only concern with this program. I hope that those in charge who have made the decision to go forward with the single-sex instruction have not neglected to invest in appropriate training for the teachers to prepare them for the different methods that they will need to employ. I hope to hear more examples of this, and will update my blog as I find them. For those reading this, if you know of a program such as this, please let me know!

Heather