How Coeducational Are Coeducational Classes?

• In Event: Cultivating and Engendering Equitable Relationships, Research, and Resistance in Educational Spaces

Abstract

Boys and girls sit together in classrooms, but do they interact? Early evidence suggested that they do not; instead, they segregate by gender, limiting learning opportunities. Up-to-date evidence is lacking. For that reason, we assessed gender segregation in two U.S. coeducational elementary schools over an academic year. Third- to fifth-grade students (n = 515) from diverse backgrounds were asked how often (frequency) and how well they work (quality) with each classmate. Analyses illustrated a strikingly consistent pattern: For every grade, each gender, and across both fall and spring, students interacted more frequently and had higher quality interactions with same- than with other-gender classmates. Given the findings, teachers should encourage mixed-gender interactions; students will benefit socially and academically.

Authors

• Sonya Xinyue Xiao, Arizona State University

• Carol Lynn Martin, Arizona State University

• Richard A. Fabes, Arizona State University

• Laura Hanish, Arizona State University

• Dawn DeLay

• Krista Oswalt, Arizona State University - Tempe