A new study finds that students who attend all-male or all-female schools are not necessarily better educated than students who attend co-ed schools, despite the high exclusivity of gender-segregated private schools.

Furthermore, students who attend gender-segregated schools are more likely to accept gender stereotypes, like girls being less capable of math or science.

“Our examination of the existing studies leads us to conclude that there is not scientific evidence for positive effects of single-sex schooling,” said study researcher Lynn Liben. “That’s not to say that academic outcomes are definitively worse, but neither are they definitively better. Advantages have not been demonstrated.”

Supporters of single-sex schools claim that brain differences between boys and girls require different teaching styles. However, neuroscientists have found few differences between male and female brains, and none in regards to learning styles.

Those in favor of co-ed schools, meanwhile, argue that boys and girls are not given opportunities to work together and develop the skills necessary to interact with each other.

The researchers studied this possible phenomenon, as well as the potential for the development of gender stereotypes, in an experiment that built gender divisions between preschoolers.

The students involved were asked to line up by gender and post work on separate boy and girl bulletin boards. The teachers were also instructed to use gendered language when speaking to the classes.

After two weeks, the researchers found that students showed an increase in gender-stereotyped attitudes toward each other and their choice of toys, and they played less with children of the other sex.

Currently, most gender-segregated schools are private schools and are often used as proof of the advantages of single-sex schools. However, most private schools require admission testing before students can enter and have other advantages over public schools, making it problematic to compare the two against each other in this respect.

“The bottom line is that there is not good scientific evidence for the academic advantages of single-sex schooling,” said Liben. “But there is strong evidence for negative consequences of segregating by sex — the collateral damage of segregating by sex.”

The study was published in the journal Science.

While schools tend to use hyperactivity as an indicator that a child may need extra help in school, a new study indicates that inattention is actually more detrimental to learning than disruptive behaviors are.

According to new data, only 29 percent of children with attention problems finish high school compared to 89 percent of children who do not have attention problems. The researchers defined attention problems as an inability to concentrate, absentmindedness or a tendency to give up or be easily distracted.

Meanwhile, hyperactivity, which was defined as restlessness, running around, squirming or being fidgety, is less predictive of whether or not a child will finish high school. Forty percent of children who are hyperactive graduate as compared to 77 percent who are not hyperactive.

Unfortunately, because hyperactive children tend to be seen as the proverbial ‘squeaky wheel,’ they tend to be the focus of teacher and administrative attention, the researchers said.

“In the school system, children who have attention difficulties are often forgotten because, unlike hyperactive kids, they don’t disturb the class,” said Dr. Sylvana Cote, study researcher. “However we know that we can train children to pay attention through appropriate activities, and that can help encourage success at school.”

The researchers encouraged that children with attention problems receive preventative intervention early on in development to increase their chances of finishing school.

They also stressed that hyperactivity and inattention be seen as two separate health issues, rather than two symptoms of the same disorder, in order to better tailor prevention efforts.

The study will be published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

What subject should your child study harder in school this year?

According to the federal government, more than two thirds of U.S. fourth graders did not show proficiency in science in the 2010-11 school year.

Six out of 10 eighth and twelfth graders also failed to meet proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is used as a key measure of performance in science.

Francis Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, said that the reason for this may be, in part, because science classes are often cut short in favor of math and reading.

The problem was so serious, President Obama included it in his last State of the Union address. Obama said science is crucial for American competitiveness.

Children across the country are going to receive new computers, Kindles, iPods, iPads, and smartphones as they get ready to go back to school. There’s so much talk of technology and its effectiveness yet parents still ask how to best utilize the internet, a tool that’s been around for years and is readily available in homes and schools across the country.

Without proper structure the internet can be a dangerous place for children. By following a few guidelines, it can be a great place for your kids to explore all sorts of topics.

Be careful what you “wiki” for

One misspelled word in a search engine and a host of unwanted websites or images could pop up. It’s best to supervise this step closely. Write down the word your child is searching for in big, bold letters so he can copy it into the search engine. Your best bet is to add commonly used sites as a bookmark so they are only one click away.

Rely on old reliable

View websites of well-established companies or organizations like Scholastic, NASA, or the Museum of Natural History. Though they may have products for sale, these sites typically offer lots of free content that is appropriate for children of all ages. There’s a reason well-known sites are well-known; teachers, parents, and children have benefited from them before.

Do your homework before your kids do their homework

Visit sites before you send your kids to them. Take a few minutes to explore sites so you can choose activities that will best benefit your child.

Avoid sites that are too “busy”

Look at the amount of advertisements. Avoid sites that are loaded with ads or seem “gimmicky.” Your child could click on an ad and view unwanted material.

Visit the library

The library that just knows books is a thing of the past. The role of the school librarian has evolved with the influx of new technology available. The librarian’s title is now “Library Media Specialist” which incorporates all forms of media. This person is likely a great resource for academic sites that will benefit your child’s skill development.

Join the social media revolution

Though you didn’t grow up with the incredible technology available to your children today, you must familiarize yourself with it so you can maximize your participation, supervision, and guidance in your home. You will find thousands of resources on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Teachers and parents are using social media sites to organize and connect people to share skills, tips, and materials to better educate children. On Twitter, start by following well-known people and organizations then see who they follow- it’s a simple way to expand your social media circle. Parents are often concerned about their own privacy on these sites but you have options as to what information is available to the public. Don’t be afraid to join social media sites solely for the purpose of gathering information. It’s out there and it’s yours for the taking.

Some people are born with a natural talent for art or music or sports. But can the same be said about certain school subjects, such as math? Are some people simply born with better math skills than others?

According to a new study, it appears so. Math ability in pre-school children seems to be strongly linked to an inborn and primitive “number sense.”

This number sense is basic to all animals, not just humans. For instance, creatures who hunt use it to ascertain where they can find and gather the most food or to keep track of the food they do have.

Humans use it daily to estimate the number of people in a meeting or the number of seats available on a bus in a single glance.

This latest study links number sense to formal mathematical ability in children who have not yet received mathematical instruction.

“The relationship between ‘number sense’ and math ability is important and intriguing because we believe that ‘number sense’ is universal, whereas math ability has been thought to be highly dependent on culture and language and takes many years to learn,” said study leader Melissa Libertus.

“Thus, a link between the two is surprising and raises many important questions and issues, including one of the most important ones, which is whether we can train a child’s number sense with an eye to improving his future math ability.”

The study tested 200 pre-school age children on several tasks measuring number sense, mathematical ability and verbal ability. They included verbal tests to ensure that some children were not simply better test-performers in general.

According to the results, the better the children’s number sense (how precisely they could make general estimates), the better they were at formal mathematic problems such as adding or subtracting. This indicates that inborn numerical estimation abilities are in fact linked to achievement, or lack thereof, in school math classes.

“Previous studies testing older children left open the possibility that differences in instructional experience is what caused the difference in their number sense; in other words, that some children tested in middle or high school looked like they had better number sense simply because they had had better math instruction,” Libertus said.

“Unlike those studies, this one shows that the link between ‘number sense’ and math ability is already present before the beginning of formal math instruction.”

Questions still remain regarding the findings. For instance, do children born with better number sense just have an easier time learning mathematical formulas and procedures? Or is it that children born with less accurate number sense simply avoid math-related activities before developing competency?

The most important question, according to Libertus, is whether number sense can be ‘trained’ at a young age, therefore improving later mathematical ability.

The study was published in Developmental Science.

Bullying may not only have a negative impact on children’s mental health, it may also pull down their grades.

In a new study, researchers found that high schools that reported high rates of bullying had significantly lower scores on standardized tests required to graduate than high schools where bullying was less prevalent.

“Our study suggests that a bullying climate may play an important role in student test performance,” said Dewey Cornell, PhD, a clinical psychologist and professor of education at the University of Virginia. “This research underscores the importance of treating bullying as a school wide problem rather than just an individual problem.”

The study compiled surveys about bullying from more than 7,300 ninth grade students and 3,000 teachers from about 300 high schools across Virginia.

“This difference is substantial because it affects the school’s ability to meet federal requirements and the educational success of many students who don’t pass the exams,” Cornell said.

The researchers said they focused on ninth grade students because it is the pivotal year when students enter high school, and prior research has shown that poor academic performance in ninth grade predicts a higher probability of high school drop-outs.

While bullying isn’t necessarily more prevalent in schools today than it was in previous decades, the researchers said media attention has highlighted the problem.

“We have always had bullying in our schools. What has changed is we have become more aware of bullying due to a series of high-profile tragic cases involving school shootings and suicides,” Cornell said. “Our society does not permit harassment and abuse of adults in the workplace, and the same protections should be afforded to children in school.”

Effective anti-bullying programs must take a school wide approach that involves students, teachers and parents, the researchers advised. Proper programs should provide help for victims, counseling and discipline for bullies, and education for bystanders to discourage them from supporting bullying.