by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

In 2006, at a junior high school mostly populated by African Americans in a very poor rural town, Kingtree, South Carolina, Margie Myers, a new principal, had no money to spend on boosting test scores and dealing with severe discipline problems.

So she split the boys and girls into separate classrooms.

Single sex education is common in private schools and nationwide it’s been growing for the past two years, when regulations by the Federal Department of Education were set for equal treatment, the same subjects and similar facilities.

Approximately 400 public schools in 37 states have at least one school with some single sex classrooms. At Kingtree, classes are separate for math, science, English and social studies. In year one, achievement and behavior were much improved and surveys showed satisfaction by kids.

Based on that success, South Carolina is working toward more single gender schools, noting that the principal and teachers must be willing to make such a change.

Concerns include stereotyping and less attention to coed classes. Read more in the May 7th edition of Education Week.