Another Defeat For Proponents of Single-Sex Education

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September 4, 2012

Last month the ACLU issued a preliminary report on single-sex education programs in the United States. We took special note of the report here in Maine, since one of our public schools in Sanford had been operating such a program until earlier this year, when the ACLU of Maine demanded they end it and the school committee agreed. Now, just a few weeks later, a federal court has directed a middle school in West Virginia to stop separating classes by sex for the upcoming year.

Girls and boys at Van Devender Middle School were separated for all core curriculum classes and were being taught using different methods based on dangerous sex stereotypes. The ACLU brought a lawsuit on behalf of a mother and daughter, and thankfully the court stepped in just before the school year was set to begin.

As recently as last week, the school had a training session for all its teachers featuring materials in which boys were described as “smart,” “arrogant,” “busy,” “eager” and seeking “the big picture.” The words “careful,” "insecure,” “patient,” “focused” and “lacking independence” typified girls.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the case was the wording used by the judge, who observed:

“…the court does note that the science behind single-sex education appears to be, at best inconclusive, and certain gender-based teaching techniques based on stereotypes and lacking any scientific basis may very well be harmful to students. Even Professor [Rosemary] Salomone, the expert witness called by the defense, agreed with the ACLU on the issue of brain research – that it’s based on the rationale of pseudoscience – and suggested that many schools were ‘led astray’ by the teachings of Dr. Leonard Sax.”

For more information on single-sex education programs and what the ACLU is doing to stop them, check out the ACLU's campaign called "Teach Kids, Not Stereotypes."