ACLU Celebrates Guidance on Single-Sex Classrooms Issued by U.S. Department of Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education today issued guidance on the use of single-sex classrooms in co-educational public schools.

The guidance responds to a trend, documented by the ACLU, in which school districts have implemented single-sex classes based on sex stereotypes about boys and girls, and have used radically different teaching strategies in the boys’ and girls’ classrooms. The guidance makes clear that such programs violate Title IX, because generalizations about boys' and girls' interests and learning styles cannot be used to justify the use of different teaching methods for male and female students.

The following comment can be attributed to Lenora Lapidus, director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project:

"Treating students differently based on their sex is the definition of sex discrimination that is prohibited under Title IX. The guidance should offer a long-awaited, much-needed course-correction for school districts across the country."

The guidance is available at:
aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/faqs-title-ix-single-sex-201412.pdf

More information on the ACLU’s work to end single-sex education is available at:
aclu.org/womens-rights/teach-kids-not-stereotypes