Coeducation and adolescent values.

Extending an earlier study (Lee & Bryk, 1986), this research investigates sustained effects of single-sex and coeducational secondary school on the attitudes, values, and behaviors of young men and women, measured 2 or 4 years after high school graduation. The sample from High School and Beyond consists of 1,533 college students who had attended 75 Catholic high schools, 45 of which were single-sex. Longitudinal data were available biennially from their high school sophomore year (1980) until their college senior year (1986). Although sustained effects of singlesex secondary schooling appear for both sexes on college choice and postcollege interests, effects on young women extend to attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. The single-sex educational experience, especially during the formative adolescent period, appears to enable young women to overcome certain social-psychological barriers to their academic and professional advancement.Recent research on the issue of single-sex education has provided substantial evidence of its effectiveness, particularly for young women (e.g.,

Section: Secondary-level Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Secondary-level Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustained effects of the single-sex secondary school experience on attitudes, behaviors, and values in college.

Lee

Marks²

1990

“…There was some disagreement, however, about actual academic emphasis between the two school types. Some researchers found girls' schools to evidence a more academic orientation-a more competitive atmosphere, less free time, greater task emphasis, greater interest in academics, and more time spent on homework (Jones et al;Trickett, Castro, Trickett, & Schaffner, 1982). Other research results contradict these conclusions, finding no positive relation between single-sex status and academic orientation (Dale, 1969(Dale, , 1971Dale & Miller, 1972;Feather, 1974).…”

Section: Secondary-level Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of single-sex secondary schools on student achievement and attitudes.

Lee¹,

Bryk²

1986

229

252

A movement away from single-sex education occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, just as research was beginning to document positive effects of women's colleges. There has been very little investigation of single-sex education at the secondary level, however. In this study, we compared the effects of single-sex and coeducational secondary schooling, using a random sample of 1,807 students in 75 Catholic high schools, 45 of which were singlesex institutions, drawn from High School and Beyond. Whether concerning academic achievement, achievement gains, educational aspirations, locus of control, sex role stereotyping, or attitudes and behaviors related to academics, results indicate that single-sex schools deliver specific advantages to their students, especially female students. In the recent focus on American secondary education, the relation between school organization and students' academic performance has been looked at critically. What has been considered by some to be an anachronistic organizational feature of schools may actually facilitate adolescent academic development by providing an environment where social and academic concerns are separated. Perhaps a second look at this disappearing school type is warranted.

“…There is a great deal of controversy, and a few empirical studies, on the social importance of coeducational and single-sex schools (e.g., Hyde, 1971). Of the empirical work conducted in this area, most studies have limited generality because they either (a) report on a single school of each type (coed and single sex; e.g., Winchel, Fenner, & Shaver, 1974), or (b) take place in cultures whose traditions regarding single-sex and coed independent schools differ from those in the United States (e.g., Jones, Shallcross, & Dennis, 1972). Nevertheless, a brief review of this research does support the general contention that these two types of independent schools do offer contrasting environments to their students.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The independent school experience: Aspects of the normative environments of single-sex and coed secondary schools.

Trickett¹,

Trickett²,

Castro³

et al. 1982

The normative environments of 15 representative single-sex and coeducational independent schools in the United States were assessed by Trickett and Moos's Classroom Environment Scale and a Student Experience Questionnaire. Data gathered in 78 classrooms and from a stratified random sample of 456 students in 15 schools showed that the environments of these two types of independent schools differ from one another and from the normative classroom environments of public schools. Single-sex schools were perceived as having a more academic orientation, with greater task emphasis and competition, than coeducational independent schools, and independent schools in general were perceived as having classrooms that were more involving, organized, and less rule-oriented than public school classrooms. These differences are discussed as a function of the purpose and histories of the various types of school, including issues of student and faculty selection differences.