Single-Gender Education

David Chadwell is South Carolina's statewide coordinator of single-gender education. No other state has any education official like David Chadwell. It is his goal that every child in the state of South Carolina will have the available option of single-gender education in the public schools of that state within five years. It is said that there are already some 300 single-gender schools operating within secondary public education in America. This is according to a recent AP article. Chadwell is primarily interested in making this option available to kids in middle school. The article did not say whether he would later like to expand this available choice to elementary or high school. David Chadwell, who has many years of experience in various types of educational settings, believes that girls and boys of a certain age learn more effectively if they have the opportunity forsingle-gender education. Predictably, the head of the National Organization of Women has come out in opposition to Mr. Chadwell's plan. She fears the rise of sexism and certain stereotypes which she believes hold women back. But Chadwell is careful to point out that it is not the type of curriculum that he wants to change, but the method by which children learn. He says that boys and girls are attracted by different types of learning and have different learning skills. In short, he says that they learn differently. Many girls actually seem to be less intimidated in single-gender settings than they are when boys are present. And no doubt, boys and girls both may be less likely to be diverted from their studies by trying to make an impression on members of the opposite sex. Whether or not you agree with David Chadwell, the important point to be made here is that this option is viable and worth pursuing. Remember that it is only a voluntary option. No parents are required to send their kids to single-gender schools. My dad tells me that single-gender public education was more common for kids in his generation. There was a Boys High School and a Girls High School, for example, in Atlanta back in the '30's. And of course, private high schools for girls and boys were everywhere. Nowadays, most of those schools have gone co-ed. Often, when public education seeks to do something experimental or innovative to improve the quality of education, the whole project gets bogged down in politics, social sensitivities, and bureaucratic red tape. I remember when Davidson College's Board of Trustees voted for the college to go co-ed. I was a senior that spring; and I remember thinking that I was glad I wouldn't be around to see the changes take place--not because I don't like women, of course, but because I felt, and still feel, that something significant was being lost. Today, we say we stand for diversity, but we don't appreciate distinctives; we say we want to celebrate pluralism, but we can't abide too much non-conformity or obvious differences in method or objectives. We have too often sacrificed quality for novelty--in education, theology, and so many other aspects of American life. I don't know if David Chadwell is on the right track; but I think that those who believe he is have every right to make that choice.