Single-Sex Education

Research confirms our belief that within the structure of a single-sex school, young women become better students and are more confident in their abilities. According to the 1985 study by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, young women enrolled in all-female schools:

• Set higher educational goals
• Perceive themselves as being in control of their own choices, values and quality of life
• Hold more positive attitudes about school
• Achieve significantly higher levels in reading and science
• Overcome traditional sex-role stereotypes
• Show greater acceptance of friends who do well academically
• Have few absences and discipline problems
• Do more homework and watch less television

Valerie E. Lee, Anthony S. Bryk 1985 Harvard Graduation School of Educational Research (printed in its entirety in the October 1986 issue of the “Journal of Educational Psychology.”)

Visitation believes that every girl deserves to realize her full potential. For generations, all-girl schools have understood this need and put into practice teaching strategies and approaches that work best for girls. And the best is always expected. All the star speakers, writers, singers, performers, athletes, leaders and scholars are girls! Young women at Visitation are confident, accomplished and excel at whatever they choose.

According to Dianne Hales, in her 1999 book “Just Like a Woman — How Gender Science is Redefining What Make Us Female,” “In the United States, enrollments at single-sex schools are soaring, and even coed schools, public and private, are setting up all-girl and all-boy classes in math and science. There is growing recognition of gender differences in learning styles.”

The U.S. government has even acknowledged the benefits of a single-sex education. In May 2002, Education Secretary Rod Paige issued new guidelines revising Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to allow President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” Act. The act includes single-sex schools and classes among the innovations that may be funded under the federal program. Proponents of single-sex schools, both Republicans and Democrats, agreed that children who attend single-sex schools score higher on tests, stay out of trouble and are willing to study a wider range of subjects than pupils in coeducational schools.

Information from NewsMax.com

Alumnae who attended Visitation often cite the following benefits from their single-sex education:

• Provided advantage when choosing a college and when deciding to take on leadership roles
• Instilled self-confidence
• Prepared young women for the “real world”
• Provided young women with more encouragement in the areas of science, math and technology than coed schools
• Felt more prepared for transition to college than coed counterparts
• Received higher college entrance test scores
• Were more likely to volunteer in community organizations after graduation than coed counterparts

The Sisters of the Visitation knew nearly 170 years ago what research is finding today about single-sex education. These visionary women instinctively knew about educating girls in an academic setting with equal rigor offered to boys of their era. Visitation’s educational and value system is as relevant for the 21st century as it was for the 19th.