By Eugene T.W. Sanders
2/22/05 -- In the last few years, Toledo Public Schools has embarked on an aggressive and visionary course to raise student achievement and provide more educational options for all students.
The district, the fourth largest in Ohio, serves 34,000 students in 46 elementary schools, seven junior highs, and eight high schools.
It is the only large urban district in Ohio that is ranked as a “continuous improvement district” and is one of only a few in the nation to meet the adequate yearly progress standard for serving specific student subgroups as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.
Our success results from several innovative strategies. Beginning this school year, students at Libbey and Scott high schools are attending smaller schools within their schools.
They still are enjoying the fun and enrichment opportunities available at a big high school -- the athletic teams, the bands, and other extracurricular activities -- but they can choose from among several schools-within-a school that best meet their needs for more personal attention and hands-on learning while promoting higher achievement. This transformation is being funded by federal, state, and KnowledgeWorks Foundation grants.
Next fall, the district will open an Early College High School on the campus of the University of Toledo in partnership with the university and with funding from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation. Eligible students will be able to graduate from this special high school with both a high school diploma and a two-year associate’s degree from the university.
During the 2003-04 school year, the district sponsored three charter schools to meet the needs of specific populations: Brigadoon Academy for students who have difficulty in traditional schools, Phoenix Academy for students who have dropped out of school, and Polly Fox Academy for pregnant or parenting teens.
The innovation that has garnered the district national attention, however, was the opening of two single-gender elementary schools in the fall of 2003.
Studies have shown that separating boys and girls can have a tremendous impact on learning, behavior, and personal growth. We have witnessed these benefits in the Lincoln Academy for Boys and the Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls. Our single-gender schools are growing, and the students are thriving.
Today, there are 149 single-gender public schools in the United States, up from just four such schools eight years ago.
Toledo Public Schools opted to create single-gender academies to offer our parents more educational options. After speaking with leaders at other single-gender public schools, our School Improvement Committee, comprised of union, teacher, and administrative representatives, unanimously agreed that single-gender schools could provide tremendous payback. We saw this concept as an innovative opportunity to more aggressively drive the direction of our district.
Not only were we able to create two single-gender schools in 90 days during the summer of 2003, we did it in the heart of Toledo’s central city, where children face many obstacles that can inhibit learning.
We chose Lincoln and Stewart because of their close proximity to one another, because the buildings required minimal modifications, and because there are other public schools nearby for parents who prefer traditional schools.
The initial response was positive. More than 400 parents attended an open house to learn more about single-gender schools.
Lincoln and Stewart are succeeding because they provide options that our parents were looking for. At both academies, parents must sign a contract with the school and promise to volunteer a suggested number of hours.
The schools offer a Parent Panel in which school and community leaders, along with parents, play equal roles in such issues as discipline and school procedures. Both schools have strict discipline policies, and classes are capped at 22 students.
Last year, we experienced the normal growing pains that any new organization goes through, but they were minimal compared to the benefits we saw. Discipline problems and suspensions dropped dramatically. In both schools, the passing rates on proficiency and achievement tests increased. Stewart had the most dramatic increase in proficiency scores in the school’s history.
Beyond the academic achievements, there is a sense of pride and belonging that simply didn’t exist at these schools before. You see it in the students’ eyes and in their level of enthusiasm. They have their own school song. When you come to their school, they want to take you on a tour. There is a feeling that “We’re a little different and we like it.”
Why does it work? Single-gender schools remove the distractions that are abundant in coeducational environments.
At Stewart Academy, our principals say that the girls all fit in somewhere; cliques simply don’t exist. The girls enjoy working in small groups and they emerge as leaders, something that seldom happens in a coeducational classroom.
At Lincoln, we’re seeing a renewed focus on responsible thinking. Discipline was a challenging problem here with numerous suspensions before the transition to an all-boys school. Now, suspensions are a rare occurrence. Behavior has become more of a point of pride than a problem.
Single-gender schools also offer an environment where stereotypes about “girl” subjects and “boy” subjects disappear.
According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, girls in single-gender schools are more likely to study such subjects as advanced mathematics, computer science, and physics. Boys in a single-gender school are twice as likely to study such subjects as foreign languages, art, music, and drama.
Teaching in a single-gender classroom requires different approaches, so we offer ongoing training for our teachers in these academies.
The University of Toledo provides training that helps our teachers better understand effective teaching methods geared to a single-gender environment and to students from poor neighborhoods with different cultural and social issues.
Our community plays a significant role in the success of both of these schools. Stewart and Lincoln have “community partners” who spend approximately 16 hours a week working with school leaders, parents, and students. Our community partners include university professors, attorneys, retired principals, pastors, fraternities and sororities, law enforcement, and many more.
These volunteers visit students’ homes, speak one-on-one with parents about their concerns, and offer tutoring and mentorship programs.
We continue to evaluate the progress of both these schools using a variety of methods, including parent surveys, enrollment data, and test scores.
Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls, with an enrollment of 350, is moving from a K-6 school to a K-8 academy, while Lincoln Academy for Boys, with an enrollment of 270, chose to remain a K-6 school.
Single-gender schools offer tremendous potential to enhance the instructional and environmental elements, as well as raise academic achievement. We believe our two academies will perform at optimal levels within three to five years.
The success of Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls and the Lincoln Academy for Boys is proof that the central city will support innovative options promising greater success for students. In any part of any community, you can create a learning environment in which the school becomes a beacon, and that school becomes the school of choice.