Single-Sex Schools Debate Keeps Going:
MSN.com Editor's Pick Story Tied To
Recent Science Article Co-authored
By Professor Diane Halpern

Microsoft's news portal MSN.com has listed among its "Editor's Picks" an Oct. 31 story focused on whether single-sex schools are better for girls (see link: "Are all-girl schools harmful"). The article, The Feminist Case Against Single-Sex Schools, is by Rebecca Bigler and Lisa Eliot, co-authors with CMC professor Diane Halpern of a Sept. 23 article in Science called, The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling. The latter article, aimed mostly at K-12 pedagogy, touched off a slew of headlines when its scholars concluded that while "there is no well-designed research showing that single-sex (SS) education improves students' academic performance," there is evidence that "sex segregation increases gender stereotyping and legitimizes institutional sexism." The newest article by Bigler and Eliot, of the University of Texas and Rosalind Franklin University, respectively, rouses the same kind of academic attention with its equally controversial subtitle: "No, the studies don't show that girls' schools are better for girls. But they're sure great at perpetuating sexist attitudes." Read the full story about Halpern and team's Sept. 23 Science article, and view links to other publications, in addition to MSN.com, that have covered their findings.