Director of Education, Dr. Chris Spence

The Toronto District School Board thinks so.

By erica phillips

It’s been debated and studied around the world, and now the question of whether co-ed education is unsuitable for some students has made its way to Toronto. With various research, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is addressing the issue by creating distinctive environments so that every one of the 250,000 children under its umbrella has the opportunity to succeed. The single-sex schools, called the Girls’ Leadership Academy and the Boys’ Leadership Academy, are two of the TSDB’s “programs of choice”, announced in 2009 by newly appointed director of education Chris Spence.

The basic premise, though it’s not entirely clear why, is that boys and girls learn differently. It’s thought that both biological and social factors are at play. In some cases there are also behavioural and disciplinary issues that need to be addressed. Various international studies also indicate that boys still lag behind girls in literacy. And even though the gap in mathematics has been improving, there are concerns about the number of boys who do not graduate from high school.

“If we look at our TDSB research, we find that there is an achievement gap between boys and girls,” says Karen Grose, coordinating superintendent of innovative programs and futuristic schools. “We want to look at supportive programs for boys.” That gap, based on the Education Quality and Accountability Office and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test results, is more pronounced in writing.

Expected to open in fall 2011, the two academies will start with Grades 4 to 8, with plans to extend them into the lower and upper grades. Grose says Grades 4 to 8 were targeted first because it is during those years that students start to face peer pressure and other challenges. Among other things, the Girls Leadership Academy will look at entrepreneurship and leadership, working together, mentorship and maximizing potential.

For boys, the focus will be on instructional strategies that will close the achievement gap and get boys more engaged in learning, Grose says. Some boys need more active and competitive learning environments. However, Grose says all “programs of choice” must deliver the provincial curriculum.

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To ensure this, committees have been meeting since last fall to create the alternative options, with participants from within and separate of the TDSB sharing their opinions. A feasibility study, which will outline the operational parameters, equity of access, costs, communications strategy and more is due to be released this fall.

The choice to implement the programs is backed by U.S. findings, such as a 2002 study from the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education (NASSPE), which reported improvements in test scores for boys and girls in single-sex environments. The NASSPE also found that students in single-sex schools tend to take a broader range of courses outside of traditional gender-oriented ones. There are more girls in advanced math, physics and computer science and more boys in foreign languages, art, drama or music.

Ultimately, however, Grose says it’s up to parents to choose the most suitable learning environment for their children. “You know your child best,” she sums it up.
For more information, visit tdsb.on.ca or singlesexschools.org