In Favour of Coeducation: The Educational Attitudes of Students from Coeducational and Single-Sex High Schools

Abstract

Four hypotheses about differences in educational attitudes of students in coeducational and single-sex high schools were derived from previous research on the socialpsychological environments of such schools. These hypotheses were that, compared with students from single-sex schools, coeducational school students would have more positive attitudes toward teachers, more positive self-concepts of academic ability, more positive attitudes toward high school, and stronger preferences for the type of school (coeducational or single-sex) in which theywere enrolled. The research participants included 2,029 grades 10 to 12 students from five coeducational, four allfemale, and four all-male separate high schools. The students completed a questionnaire that included scales relevant to each of the hypotheses. The results provided support for the second and fourth hypotheses and partial support for the first and third.