Frederica Freyberg:
Finally tonight, education news. Despite two proposals in the legislature and a long public hearing this week, Gov. Doyle's application for federal Race to the Top money will not include the plan for a mayoral takeover of Milwaukee schools. Wisconsin seeks $254 million of school aid from the feds, dollars to be aimed at improving student performance and narrowing the minority student achievement gap. Meanwhile, in Beloit, a public school is having some success in those categories and others with same-gender classrooms. Robinson Elementary School’s 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classrooms are all-boy or all-girl. The principal, Sam Carter, joins us from Janesville.

Sam Carter:
Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
I understand in fact it has been such a success that you are expanding these single-gender classrooms. Why are you doing that?

Sam Carter:
This is our third year of the program and my second year at Robinson. Previously the past two years we've had same gender classrooms at the 4th grade level only. In order to better track the data and get better data, I wanted to expand the program to grades three, four and five so we can see if we're getting the results that we needed.

Frederica Freyberg:
How have they proven to be successful enough to want to track them?

Sam Carter:
Some of the exciting things we've seen are our girls' math scores from the past two years have excelled over the boys' scores, and also we've seen some discipline data where our same-gender classrooms last year, the all-boys classroom, had the lowest referral rates in the school next to our kindergarten classes. So we see a definite advantage to the family and climate that's built in those kinds of classrooms.

Frederica Freyberg:
What explains it? Part of me wants to suggest that maybe the teachers you've got in those classrooms are just really good and it doesn't have much to do with same gender. But what is your thought?

Sam Carter:
They are excellent teachers, but we do see a sense of community and family and closeness in those classrooms that we may not see in the mixed classrooms, and that does have to do with the teacher leadership, but it's also, for example, our 5th grade all-boys class with Shaun Pettit, he calls them his “band of brothers” and they really have that family atmosphere, where they sometimes fight like brothers, but they also take care of each other and he's created a really nice dynamic in that class.

Frederica Freyberg:
And why is it that even apart perhaps from the dynamic that that teacher creates and the boys embrace, why is it that single-gender classrooms do better? What is it about the learning styles potentially that make it more successful?

Sam Carter:
Well, it's based on a lot of the research and the way that boys and girls learn differently. For example, in the all-boys class, Mr. Pettit uses a lot of movement and competition, whereas in a mixed classroom boys that are standing at their desks or having the freedom to move around may be a distraction to some of the girls in the classroom, whereas in a classroom where we know that boys learn through movement, that they're allowed to move and have that freedom, those kinds of learning styles and traits we cater to so we create an environment conducive to learning. In all-girls classrooms they do a lot of community sharing, and it's a lot quieter in those classrooms. Girls learn better in a quieter atmosphere. The teacher's voice, for example, is quieter. And those kinds of things that are through research that show how boys and girls learn differently and most effectively, we cater to those differences.

Frederica Freyberg:
It's so interesting. But is there any sense that the differences are necessarily always disruptive? Can't girls and boys potentially learn something from each other?

Sam Carter:
And they do. They still have chances during the day to interact. For example, we also do some targeted intervention, where the boys and girls are mixed. But it's about — it's a strategy that we use to cater to these learning styles.  

Frederica Freyberg:
And what about, are there any critics of this in the district or even in the school that suggest this is kind of stereotyping boys and girls?

Sam Carter:
We don't hear as much about the stereotyping. We've had minimal criticism about the program, but the program is still early on in its development at Robinson. So we want to be able to track our achievement data. Ultimately, that's what we want to see, is increased student achievement. And we're going to keep an eye on that. And if we don't get the results that we need after giving it a fair chance, then we'll make adjustments.

Frederica Freyberg:
And I guess I didn't ask, what do the kids in these classrooms think of it?

Sam Carter:
Overwhelming we've had positive student feedback. We give the students a survey, and they really like it. You can really see the friendships and the closeness among the students in that classroom, in those classrooms.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Well, it sounds great. Sam Carter from Beloit, thank you very much.

Sam Carter:
Thank you for having me.