Nearly 60 schools had to withdraw their offerings, the result of teacher layoffs. That’s down from a peak of 220 schools offering the single-sex option.
In my book, I profile a boys school in New York that’s clearly working -- it’s the highest performing public school at that grade level. Single-sex education can be effective, but it’s not the only option for dealing with the boy troubles. And the fact that it’s a more expensive option makes it an unreliable solution (that, and the fact that national feminist groups lobby to kill it off as a legal option for public schools).
I also profile Frankford Elementary, a very ordinary school in Delaware serving poor and minority students that also succeeded in reducing gender and racial gaps -- the old fashioned way, with smart and determined instruction. Can that be duplicated elsewhere? Yes, but only by boosting the capacity for inspired school leadership.