I think experiementing with same-sex schools is a fantastic idea.  I looked at the data when my wife and I were deciding whether to send our oldest daughter to an all-girls school and what I recall of the data for girls was that half the studies showed no impact and half showed a benefit to girls -- which was PLENTY good enough for us (our older two are currently at all-girls Nightingale-Bamford School and our youngest will hopefully join them next year in kindergarten).  I know for sure that was I was young, my presense in the classroom didn't help the girls (or anyone else for that matter! -- I was quite hyperactive).

 

I don't know what the data shows for all-boys schools, but I went to one in 7th and 8th grade (Eaglebrook in Deerfield, MA) and my instinct is that it's a great idea for them as well...

The Bush administration is giving public school districts broad new latitude to expand the number of single-sex classes, and even schools, in what is widely considered the most significant policy change on the issue since a landmark federal law barring sex discrimination in education more than 30 years ago.

Two years in the making, the new rules, announced Tuesday by the Education Department, will allow districts to create single-sex schools and classes as long as enrollment is voluntary. School districts that go that route must also make coeducational schools and classes of “substantially equal” quality available for members of the excluded sex.

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October 25, 2006

Federal Rules Back Single-Sex Public Education

By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/education/25gender.html

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24— The Bush administration is giving public school districts broad new latitude to expand the number of single-sex classes, and even schools, in what is widely considered the most significant policy change on the issue since a landmark federal law barring sex discrimination in education more than 30 years ago.