Charter school puts hope in same-sex classes

The boys and girls of Smith Leadership Academy in Dorchester are ferried to school in the same yellow school buses, sporting identical uniforms of white shirts and tan pants. They even take turns feeding the school's pet iguana, Gomer.

But in nearly all science and math classes, the boys and girls are deliberately kept apart.

Smith, a charter school for about 200 sixth- through eighth-graders, is the only public school in Massachusetts known to teach male and female students separately. The academy's leaders hope they will learn more by being taught in different classrooms, but so far test scores have not shown a significant advantage.

The controversial practice could expand across the country after more permissive federal rules took effect on Friday. Massachusetts has more restrictive laws, but the state Board of Education is pushing legislators to make it easier to create single-sex public schools and programs to give parents more choices. Already, some school officials in Haverhill and Worcester have expressed interest.

Backers insist that some boys and girls learn better in separate rooms because they are less distracted and more comfortable, and that schools need to take dramatic steps to improve student performance, especially in math and science. Opponents, however, say cloistering boys and girls could lead to inferior schooling, especially for girls, reversing the gains made since a 1972 federal law banned discrimination based on gender.

The leaders of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Education said that they would support allowing more schools to try single-gender classes.

"I don't see any problem with it," said state Representative Patricia A. Haddad , a Somerset Democrat who graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school in Fall River that has since closed. "For me it was great."

Senator Robert A. Antonioni , a Leominster Democrat, said he would support having school systems try same-sex schools or classes on a limited basis.

Until now, single-sex classes have been restricted to health or physical education. The new federal rules let schools open single-sex schools or classes for any subject, though participation must be voluntary. The number of single-sex public programs nationally has soared from three in 1995 to 253 today, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education.

Expanding single-sex programs in regular Massachusetts public schools would require a change in state law, as the state board recommends.

Charter schools such as Smith Leadership Academy are independent public schools and have more freedom to experiment with programs, including same-sex classes, said state Department of Education spokesman Nate Mackinnon .

Smith, housed in a former Catholic school in Fields Corner, has had separate classes for boys and girls since it opened three years ago . The school, where most students are black or Hispanic and three - fourths are poor, also tries to boost achievement by having the principal shake each student's hand as they walk in the door and address students as Mister or Miss.

But MCAS scores offer little evidence so far that the separation works better than co-ed classes. Both boys and girls at Smith performed far better last spring in English, which is taught in co-ed classes , and scored lower in math and science.

Boys outscored girls in sixth- and eighth-grade math, but not in seventh-grade math. Both groups had low scores in science, which was tested among eighth-graders. Girls make up about 54 percent of the student body .

Teachers say it could be too soon to see results; they added eighth - grade students only last school year. But they say they see benefits -- and differences -- in their classes.

Math teacher Clifford Aziz said boys are more focused in class because there is no one to tease, and girls are more likely to answer questions.

"The boys seem to be fine with other boys knowing that they're not so bright in certain subject areas and so do the girls," said Aziz. "But the second you bring them together, folks shut down."

During eighth-grade math classes recently, the girls and boys sat at the same desks, worked on the same computers, and studied ratios and equations from the same algebra textbook. Aziz said he is stricter with the boys, who tend to act out.

Reginald Pinckney , an eighth - grader, said that at first he was appalled by single-gender classes, but now he doesn't feel like showing off as much.

"I think we work better here," said Pinckney, 14. "We get less work done [in classes] with the girls. The boys are busy talking about the girls. The girls are gossiping with the boys."

Aubriel Fuller , 13, often jumps up to answer questions now, and said she had felt less at ease with boys in class because "they always have something smart to say."

"When it's all of us I don't answer questions as much," she said. "I don't think it's because I don't know it. It's because I don't want to."

Boston Public Schools have not expressed interest in single-sex classes.

Outgoing Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said single-gender classes are worth a try.

So did Worcester Superintendent James A. Caradonio , who attended an all-boys high school and is a member of Governor-elect Deval L. Patrick's transition team. Spokespersons for Patrick did not respond to requests for comment.

State Education Board member Roberta R. Schaefer , who suggested the changes in state law to allow more single-sex classes, said it could help both sexes achieve.

"Let's get over it," Schaefer said. "Nobody's talking about putting girls in cooking classes or boys in some kind of jock class. . . . Let's think about what is good for the individual child."

Opponents say it is risky for public schools to launch single - sex classes because there is no hard evidence that it works, and it could lead to inferior schooling and increased stereotypes about how boys and girls learn. A 2005 US Department of Education study found that research on single-sex education was inconclusive.

"The reality is that men still run things in this country," Kim Gandy , president of the National Organization for Women , said in a telephone interview. "We don't need to be raising another generation of men who think that women have no business being their boss."

In Haverhill, some school committee members are skeptical of single-sex programs.

"The solution isn't to separate people," said Robert Gilman , president of the school committee. "It's to instruct them better."

Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.