The efficacy of single-sex education: testing for selection and school quality effects

To address potential selection and school quality effects in tests of the efficacy of single-sex schools, the achievement of girls attending a public single-sex magnet middle school (N = 122) was compared to that of two samples: (a) girls who applied to but were waitlisted at the single-sex school (N = 236) and (b) girls who applied to and attended a coeducational magnet school (N = 134). Once selection and school quality effects were taken into account, the students in the single-sex and coeducational schools performed equally well. Furthermore, results suggest that student achievement is more strongly influenced by the quality of the school than its gender composition. Implications for research and social policy are discussed.