May 15, 2015
A new report on the value of all-girls education was issued by the National Coalition for Girls' Schools.
Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools analyzes the responses of nearly 13,000 high school girls attending all-girls schools, coeducational independent schools, and coeducational public schools to the 2013 High School Survey of Student Engagement.
According to the survey [conducted by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy at Indiana University], girls attending girls’ schools are more likely to have an experience that supports their learning than are girls attending coeducational schools. In particular, students at all-girls schools report:
- Having higher aspirations and greater motivation.
- Being challenged to achieve more.
- Engaging more actively in the learning process.
- Participating in activities that prepare them for the world outside of school.
- Feeling more comfortable being themselves and expressing their ideas.
- Showing greater gains on core academic and life skills.
- Being and feeling more supported in their endeavors.
Among the most striking results detailed in this study is the effect the all-girls environment has on a girl’s personal aspirations. Virtually all girls within an all-girls environment expect to earn a four-year degree; two-thirds expect to go on to graduate-level work. This is compared to under 40% of coeducational public school girls with graduate school expectations.
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