Girls' School Graduates Have an Edge
The Benefits of Attending a Girls' School: What the Research Shows
Picture a classroom. Any subject, any grade level. Imagine the teacher asks a question of the class... and virtually every hand shoots right up into the air. Virtually every student is eager to answer, enthusiastic about learning.
This is a scene played out daily our classrooms. Girls' school classrooms are places where education is prized, where teachers feel empowered, where girls are excited about being in school. [full report]. Recent grad Kim '04 says:
At San Domenico there is a strong ethos of camaraderie. As a student, your deep familiarity with the girls seated around a seminar table, a science lab, or an assembly hall promotes a strong sense of security. You feel safe and supported when taking positive risks such as voicing an opinion in class, volunteering to be project leader, requesting a peer edit, broadcasting a school-wide announcement, going out for a sports team, or auditioning for the musical.
San Domenico's nurturing community ensures that participation and leadership aren't limited to the naturally extroverted, garrulous, or academically-inclined. It actively cultivates confidence and engagement in every student by leveraging the all-girls model.
Graduates of all-girls schools show stronger academic orientations than coed graduates
UCLA report also shows higher SATs, confidence in math, computer skills
Female graduates of single-sex high schools demonstrate stronger academic orientations than their coeducational counterparts across a number of different categories, including higher levels of academic engagement, SAT scores, and confidence in mathematical ability and computer skills, according to a UCLA report.
[Click the photo for the full report PDF.]
For the first time, educators have solid evidence of girls' schools' effectiveness. UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies released the results of a well-documented, national study which shows the statistically significant edge girls' school graduates have over their coed peers. This peer-reviewed research disentangles the effects of single-sex education from confounding demographic influences. At a time when education is on the national agenda, UCLA's study will make a significant contribution to the discussion.
[Click the photo for the full report PDF.]
Blog from a technology CEO & all-girls school grad: "I remember being at Princeton for college and hearing other female students groan and complain about gender inequities in academia. I remember female classmates saying they had a hard time speaking up in class, or talking to professors or teaching aides - and blaming those issues on being female. I never felt this way at Princeton. EVER. I felt confident in my academics as a person - and never really thought about whether my perceptions or experiences were different, because I am a girl. As I think back on why the difference between me and many of my female classmates at Princeton, I have to put the credit on Castilleja. They produced a confident, well-educated woman, well positioned for anything Princeton threw at me. What's more, I think it is the basis of what has made me successful in an industry and in a position that is dominated by men."
[Click the photo for the full report PDF.]
