Washington, DC – The American Association of University Women disagrees with the Department of Education’s announcement today of its decision to issue regulations to ease limits on single-sex education. The new regulations, to be officially published tomorrow, would allow the exclusion of students from classes based on gender.
“The new single-sex regulations take attention away from a severely underfunded No Child Left Behind program, and from fundamental changes that need to be made to improve education,” said AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz. “When elements of good education are present, girls and boys succeed.”
AAUW is committed to promoting an equitable learning environment for all students in the nation’s public schools. AAUW believes that the Department of Education should focus scarce public funds on proven solutions to improve student performance and learning environments, such as smaller class size, well-qualified teachers, parental involvement, and a focus on core academics.
“The research supporting single-sex is inconclusive,” said AAUW Director of Research Catherine Hill. “Indeed, in its most recent report, the Department of Education calls its own results on the benefit of single-sex education ‘equivocal.’”
“Socioeconomic status, peer groups, and influence account for most differences in achievement between single-sex and co-ed schools – not gender,” Maatz said. “AAUW believes single-sex education can reinforce problematic gender stereotypes, and restrict the educational opportunities open to both girls and boys.”
“AAUW is particularly concerned that these new regulations cross the line when it comes to Title IX,” Maatz said. “These civil rights protections have been hugely successful, and now is not the time to roll back the clock.”
For more information about AAUW’s position on single-sex education or to schedule an interview with AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz, please contact Rebecca Leaf at 202-785-7738, leafr@aauw.org or Ashley Carr at 202-785-7745, carra@aauw.org.
