ABSTRACT
Single-gender public schools in the United States represent efforts at expanding choice in the public school sector, responding to academic inequities across gender, and/or building on a successful model in the private schools. Schools and districts in a number of states have experimented with Afrocentric educational programs for boys, single-sex classes in math and science for girls, and leadership academies for girls (Pollard, 1998). There have also been attempts over the years by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (Republican, Texas) to pass a Senate bill to allow public school districts to experiment with federally funded single-gender education (Hutchison, 1999; Richards, 2000). As of May 2002, the federal government has issued new regulations providing more flexibility for experimentation with single-sex public schooling. Prior to this significant move, in 1998, California became the first state to experiment with single-gender public education on a large scale. Six districts opened single-gender academies (both boys and girls) as a result of former California Governor Pete Wilson's legislation and funding for a single-gender academies pilot program in the public school system.
