The Transition From Single-Sex to Coeducational High Schools: Effects on Multiple Dimensions of Self-Concept and on Academic Achievement

Abstract

Two single-sex (SS) high schools serving the same neighborhood were reorganized to form two coeducational (coed) high schools. Self-concept was measured for all students in grades 7–11 in each of 4 years that spanned the pretransition (Year 1), the transition (Year 2), and the posttransition (Years 3 and 4). For both boys and girls there was a clear increase in multidimensional self-concepts from the pretransition to the posttransition, despite a small decrease in self-concepts for students attending coed classes during the transition year. Sex differences in specific areas of self-concept—those favoring boys and those favoring girls—were unaffected by the transition. Achievement grades from the statewide School Certificate reference examination, awarded to all students at the end of grade 10, were monitored for the same 4 years. Across the 4 years of the study there were no significant differences in either mathematics or English achievement. Girls performed substantially better than boys in English and relatively poorer in mathematics, but the sizes of these differences were unaffected by the transition. The results of the present investigation suggest the benefits of transition to coeducation for both boys and girls in multiple dimensions of self-concept that are not at the expense of academic achievement.