• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Single-gender classrooms go before board

JANESVILLE — An experiment in boys-only and girls-only classes at Marshall Middle School will come before the Janesville School Board when it meets Tuesday.

The board will be asked to make the pilot program permanent.

Parents have a choice of sending their children to classes with boys and girls or to classes that separate boys and girls. The program would remain optional if made permanent.

The theory is that boys and girls have different learning styles that teachers can take advantage of those differences to improve learning.

Test scores so far don’t show the single-gender classrooms as better or worse than regular classrooms, however.

“I would say the data is really inconclusive at this point,” Superintendent Karen Schulte said Friday.

Most parents of kids in the single-gender classes believe that separating boys and girls makes a difference, according to a survey.

Most parents surveyed believe the separation promotes self confidence and a desire to succeed, for example.

The experiment began in September 2007 in the sixth and eighth grades. It was expanded to the seventh grade in September 2008.

Test data show single-gender classes did better in some grades, while regular classes did better in other grades or at different times. Often, average test scores are similar.

“It is not our intent to say single-gender education is better than co-education or vice versa,” according to a presentation the board will hear from staff Tuesday. “Both settings have tremendous merit. We are saying for the right student, single-gender education can assist students in reaching their maximum potential.”

The presentation also notes that two years of data are insufficient to determine trends.

ON THE AGENDA

The Janesville School Board meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Educational Services Center, 527 S. Franklin St. Agenda items include:

--Continued discussion of the 2009-10 budget.

--A report from the district discipline committee on the most prevalent violations of school rules. The administration is recommending the committee be disbanded because it has reached its goal, that all schools provide orientations to staff and students on discipline issues each year. Work on discipline issues would continue, however.

--A proposal to establish a citizens committee on the district’s sex-education curriculum, known as human growth and development. The state requires such a committee examine the curriculum every three years. The committee would comprise school administrators and teachers, a school psychologist, parents, students, the Rev. Bruce Jones of First Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Ben Breit of New Life Assembly of God, physician Jane Anderson and Gail Graham of the United Way of North Rock County.