Fueled by media reports of gender bias in the schools, the debate over single sex education has been recently renewed. Voices of Hope asks for a reconsideration of the framing of that debate. For whom is single sex education better? For the attainment of which goals? What do girls gain by being schooled with male peers? What is lost? In this longitudinal study of more than fifty high school girls at four New England independent schools, Carole B. Shmurak follows their development from ninth grade through the first year of college. Case studies capture the girls' own voices as they describe their hopes for their futures and the events that subsequently affect those futures.
Dr. Carole B. Shmurak is Professor Emeritus at Central Connecticut State University. She is the author of eleven books, including Deadmistress, featuring professor/sleuth Susan Lombardi; there are three more titles in the Lombardi series. Under the pseudonym Carroll Thomas, she is the co-author of the Matty Trescott young adult novels, one of which (Ring Out Wild Bells) was nominated for the Agatha for best young adult mystery of 2001.