This technical report provides the brief history, legality and research surrounding the gender age gap and single-sex education.
The State Education Resource Center (SERC) offers professional development, technical assistance, and a library of resources for stakeholders across the state who are dedicated to assuring the highest-quality education for all children, including resources focused on closing Connecticut’s achievement gaps. In March 2013, SERC released a technical report on “Single-Sex Education: The Connecticut Context” to summarize the professional research in this area. The report states that the research is inconclusive on separate classes and schools for boys and girls, with “no definitive argument to compel the justification of their existence or to dismiss their utility as an alternative educational option…. The facts of this report are not presented as an endorsement or indictment on the existence or creation of single-sex classes and schools.”
For those with a stake in this topic, such as educators, policy makers, community leaders, and families, the report notes that “the research surrounding this model is far from compelling for either side of the debate.” SERC trusts that any stakeholder with a wider interest in issues surrounding single-sex education, including practical applications and legal consequences, will explore the subject further.
