Report Casts Doubt on the Value of Single-Sex Schooling

By Beth Reinhard

At a time when single-sex education is gaining momentum both in public and private schools nationwide, a report says there is insufficient evidence that all-girls schools work.

The report issued last week is also noteworthy considering its source: the American Association of University Women, which has generated widespread interest in single-sex schools over the past several years.

The Washington-based advocacy group first made headlines in the K-12 field in 1991, when it released a study tying what it described as gender bias in schools to low self-esteem among adolescent girls. The next year, the association released a report concluding that women were underrepresented in history and science lessons, that teachers and tests favored boys, and that girls lagged behind boys...