Boys Who Achieve: an Examination of Single-sex Classes in a Coeducational College Preparatory School

The underachievement of boys has been a hotly debated topic in both international and national arenas. Not unlike many schools world-wide, Boston Trinity Academy had an achievement gap. While Stanford Achievement Tests supported the notion that boys and girls were equally capable of academic success, boys GPA¿s were significantly lower than those of the girls. In response to this problem, BTA, a coeducational school, implemented single-sex classes in four of six courses for upper school students. In addition, a professional development program was actuated with the goal of increasing faculty members' understanding of social and biological issues that may be contributing to the problem as well as to discuss potential pedagogical changes which could be introduced in single-sex classes. This book provides an analysis of the literature surrounding the the underachievement of boys as well as insight into the perspectives of students and teachers in a coeducational school using single-sex classes to erase the achievement gap between boys and girls.