Advancing by Degrees: Singles

WHEN 14-year-old Cydnee Couch was in an ordinary public school in New York City, she tried hard to keep up with her schoolwork, but it was a losing battle. The boys’ spitballs, incessant chatter, and frequent tugs on her ponytail were constant distractions. Then, at the beginning of seventh grade, she transferred to the Young Women’s Leadership School, a newly started all-girls charter public school in East Harlem, and she immediately noticed the difference. “I can concentrate,” she says.

While opponents of single-sex education claim that the benefits are unproven, students like Cydnee are testimony to its value for the girls and boys who choose it. A grassroots push for single-sex public-school education is under way across the country. Several states are experimenting with single-sex classrooms, with New York and California taking the lead.

CW

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Christine Whelan

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WHEN 14-year-old Cydnee Couch was in an ordinary public school in New York City, she tried hard to keep up with her schoolwork, but it was a losing battle. The boys’ spitballs, incessant chatter, and frequent tugs on her ponytail were constant distractions. Then, at the beginning of seventh grade, she transferred to the Young Women’s Leadership School, a newly started all-girls charter public school in East Harlem, and she immediately noticed the difference. “I can concentrate,” she says.

While opponents of single-sex education claim that the benefits are unproven, students like Cydnee are testimony to its value for the girls and boys who choose it. A grassroots push for single-sex public-school education is under way across the country. Several states are experimenting with single-sex classrooms, with New York and California taking the lead.