Splitting the difference: In the first year of a pilot program on single-sex classes, teachers are figuring out how boys and girls learn.

Byline: Amy Hetzner

Apr. 9--TOWN OF MERTON -- The male students trickle into biology teacher Laura Nielsen's classroom at Arrowhead High School and quickly set about bantering and joking; her female pupils enter her room more quietly and are more likely to go straight to their work. The boys need to be asked more questions, reminded to take notes and given opportunities to taste, touch and smell whatever they are working on; the girls prefer more time to discuss various issues that arise in class. The boys are more boisterous, their grades not as good; the girls can be eerily focused and "go above and beyond every time." Such differences might be overlooked in a regular class. But this school year, they are at the forefront as Arrowhead conducts its first boys-only and girls-only classes, taking advantage of new rules for single-sex education by the federal government. And their experience can give a glimpse to what's in store for the growing number of schools interested in separating genders in the classroom. "We read a lot of journals regarding it," Nielsen said. "However, I can say for myself that …