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Single‐sex Classes: Female Physics Students State Their Case
Author(s) -
Streitmatter Janice
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
school science and mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1949-8594
pISSN - 0036-6803
DOI - 10.1111/j.1949-8594.1998.tb17307.x
Subject(s) - gender equity , equity (law) , supreme court , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , inclusion (mineral) , sex discrimination , interpretation (philosophy) , perception , state (computer science) , psychology , political science , gender studies , sociology , law , mathematics , algorithm , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science , programming language
Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, gender equity has been addressed through means that reflect inclusion and integration by gender. Recent Supreme Court decisions such as the one deeming the Virginia Military Institute's admission policies to be unlawfully discriminatory against women suggest a reinforced and perhaps narrowed interpretation of appropriate means for attaining gender equity in public schools. This case and others also suggest that publicly funded single‐sex programs may be in jeopardy. This study examines data collected from a girls‐only physics class in a public coeducational high school. Interview and observation data from this class, as well as from a coeducational physics class taught by the same teacher, illustrate that the girls in the single‐sex class made substantial gains in both academic achievement and in perceptions of themselves as competent learners of science.