The effects of changing from single-sex education to coeducation on males' and females' mathematics attitudes, affect and enrollment

The mathematics-related attitudes, affect and enrollment of male and female middle and high school students (N = 280) were studied in order to measure the effects of changing from single-sex education to coeducation. The subjects attended a private, independent day school during the year in which females were admitted for the first time in the school's history. Approximately 25% of the students at each grade level were females, and 75% of the students attended single-sex schools during the previous school year. Seventy-five percent of the students were Caucasian and over 90% were from affluent families. The pre-test was conducted during September and the post-test occurred during April of the 1991-1992 school year. The perceived usefulness of mathematics was measured using the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. Mathematics self-concept was assessed with the Mathematics Self-Concept scale of the Student Description Questionnaire II. Mathematics anxiety was measured with a 5-item questionnaire designed to assess students' emotional arousal during mathematics-related activities. Mathematics enrollment data were obtained from school records. In addition to examining differences between males and females, comparisons were made between two developmental levels of students: pre-adolescents and adolescents. It was hypothesized that females' mathematics-related attitudes and affect would be significantly worse at the time of the post-test (spring) than they were at the beginning of the school year, but that males would not demonstrate negative changes over time. These negative changes were expected to be more pronounced for adolescent females than for pre-adolescent females. Also, it was hypothesized that a significantly smaller proportion of females than males would enroll in challenging mathematics courses for the next school year. In general, few of the predicted outcomes were observed. Females' mathematics-related attitudes and affect either remained stable or grew more positive. Pre-adolescent males reported being less confident and more anxious over time regarding mathematics. There was no significant difference in the proportion of challenging mathematics courses males and females chose to take during the 1992-1993 school year. These unexpectedly positive findings were attributed to the unique characteristics of the school program, the students and their parents.