“An all-girls confidence builder” Special to The Globe and Mail, Oct. 17, 2006, P8

All-girls schools appeal to students and their parents, some educators say, because they arm female students with a can-do attitude, a sense of empowerment, and the freedom to focus on their studies without distractions.

"Every role [in the school], from scientist to musician to school leader, must be filled by a girl and this builds confidence," said Susan Layard, acting principal at Toronto's St. Clements all-girls school, which offers teaching strategies that incorporate one-on-one attention along with a co-operative approach.

Single-sex schooling gives girls the freedom to take risks, agrees Patricia Donnelly, headmistress at the Sacred Heart School in Halifax, which comprises an all-girls school from Grades 7 to 12, an all-boys school from Grades 7 to 9 that opened last year, and a co-ed school from kindergarten to Grade 6.

When Sacred Heart considered allowing co-ed classes in Grade 7 and beyond, board and faculty members stood firm in the belief that single-sex classrooms are best for girls during their tumultuous adolescent years.

Some teenage girls who transfer to Sacred Heart say it's a relief to study at an institution where "everyone is down to work and nobody is being the class clown," Ms. Donnelly said, adding: "There is no sense there is anybody to impress. There is a real freedom to express your opinion, and not to worry about being silly doing it."

Dr. Leonard Sax, author of the 2005 book Why Gender Matters and chairman of the board of the U.S. National Association for Single-Sex Public Education, recommends that parents enroll their daughters in all-girls schools as early as kindergarten, though he concedes that research demonstrates the benefits are best for older students.

"What we do know is girls in Grades 7 to 12 [in all-girls schools] are far more likely to pursue their interests in computer science, physics, and engineering compared to girls of comparable ability [in co-ed schools]," Dr. Sax, a psychologist and family physician, said in a phone interview from Poolesville, Md.

Twenty years ago, proponents of same-sex education argued that teenaged boys and girls with raging hormones should be separated simply because they distract one other, Dr. Sax said.

These days, advocates say that boys and girls learn better when separated because of hard-wired differences in their visual, auditory and sensory systems.

Gender disparities affect learning styles and classroom behaviour, Dr. Sax said. "In an all-girls classroom, the girl who does the best job on her project will raise her status in the eyes of the other girls. In an all-boys classroom, the boy who disrespects the teacher will raise his status," he said.

Teachers have long known of gender differences, said Kim Gordon, the head of school at Toronto's Bishop Strachan School, Canada's oldest day and boarding school for girls. But it wasn't until recently that research into the differences gave them a "peg to hang their hat on," she said.

For example, four-year-old girls enter school with a good grasp of verbal skills, she said, while boys of the same age have typically developed their large motor skills.

"If I am a teacher in that co-ed class, I am going to focus on reading, which is great for the boys. But I am putting the girls at a disadvantage because they need focus on their spatial skills to help them with physics later," Ms. Gordon said.

Canada is home to many all-girls schools, some with long traditions in their communities. "Most of our single-sex schools have been around for a long time and it's because there weren't opportunities for women," Ms. Gordon noted.

"Our school started for the daughters of Anglican clergy because there were already opportunities for Catholic girls," she said of Bishop Strachan, which first opened its doors in 1867.

The school has nearly 900 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12, and stresses its tradition of shaping confident leaders, teaching community service and providing academic excellence. Its website asserts, "We know how girls learn."

However, some critics say research into single-sex schooling doesn't support theories that it is especially beneficial.

Charles Ungerleider, an education professor at the University of British Columbia, and a colleague reviewed 48 studies published over a 14-year period and concluded that claims that single-sex schooling improves student achievement were not supported.

"The bottom line is that evidence about single-sex schooling and achievement doesn't support the decision to pursue either all-male or all-female schools or classes," said Professor Ungerleider, a former B.C. deputy education minister.

A recent national survey of high-school students suggests there are few significant differences between students of co-ed and single-sex schools in their academic engagement, self-image, sense of leadership and overall social adjustment. Among students at independent schools, for example, 50 per cent of those in same-sex schools said they were "very confident" they would be prepared for university, compared with 56 per cent in co-ed schools (in public co-ed schools, the response was 40 per cent).

The on-line survey of nearly 18,000 students, released last month, was conducted by The Strategic Counsel for a coalition of 32 co-ed independent schools across Canada.

But Ms. Donnelly, of Sacred Heart, dismisses critics who believe single-sex schooling does little to level the academic playing field.

"It seems to me that 'equal rights' means what is most beneficial to the individual," she said. "Children are different, and we need choices."