Question
Does single-sex schooling in K-12 increase   achievement and educational experiences of both boys and girls?

Application
Report to policy makers on what the research says about   single-sex schooling and how the issue is presented to the public by news media.

Literature Search
Popular Press
  LexisNexis & Canadian Newsstand Databases    
  (January 2003 - June 2004)

42 magazine and newspaper articles identified

Research Findings
  Academic Search Premier, ERIC, CBCA Education &
  Reference, Sociological Abstracts Databases
  (January 1990 - June 2004)

160 articles identified; 48 met inclusion criteria

SPOTLIGHTS on most relevant articles = 6

Summary of SPOTLIGHTS
Contrary to how the issue is sometimes framed in the news media, there are no meaningful differences between single-sex and mixed-sex schooling when social and academic pre-existing factors are considered.

When given the choice, girls generally prefer single-sex classes whereas boys typically prefer coeducational classes.

Rather than establishing single-sex schools, policies can be directed at ensuring equality of opportunity, eliminating sex discrimination in instruction, and managing student behaviour the classroom.  

Public and coeducational schools: their effects on achievement, affect and behaviour.

Science achievements of girls in single-sex and co-educational schools.

All female classes in high school computer science: positive effects in three years of data.

Can single-sex classes in co-educational schools enhance the learning experiences of girls and/or boys?

Sexism in single-sex and coeducational independent secondary school classrooms. 

'War, guns and cool, tough things': Interrogating single-sex classes as a strategy for  engaging boys in English.