Insights from the Center

As the research and development arm of Agnes Irwin, the Center for the Advancement of Girls drives girl-centered teaching and learning, using research to inform the practices, policies and procedures of our School to make it the best possible environment for girls to thrive.

Learn about our work to:

Improve student well-being
Support girls as learners
Develop leadership in girls

Advancing Girl-Centered Teaching and Learning Principles

The Center’s work and over 150 years of experience teaching girls tells us that simply reducing the academic and social distraction that boys pose in the learning environment does not address or consider the layered messages girls receive about how they should behave nor what is expected of them as students. In Spring 2024, the Center produced a White Paper, which articulates 6 principles that grounds Agnes Irwin’s approach to girl-centered teaching and learning:

Voice
Choice
Clarity
Connection
Relevance
Balance

The 6 research-informed principles are woven into every facet of the student experience and directly inform our faculty evaluation and onboarding processes, and how we examine the impact of our program.

Leadership Identity in Young Girls

While progress has been made, there continues to be limited representation of women and girls in leadership roles across industries; they continue to encounter bias and battle gender stereotypes and challenges in accessing opportunities for leadership development and advancement.

At Agnes Irwin, we believe that all girls have the capacity to lead. We believe it is our role as educators to support them in cultivating an authentic leadership identity. We accomplish this through our signature leadership programs including the Lower School Leadership Toolkit and the Middle School Leadership Keys.

Cell Phone Policy

We know that girls turn to social media for both self-actualization and peer interaction. Research reports by Common Sense Media, note that 54% of girls say social media “often distracts me when I should be paying attention to the people I’m with,” and 57% say social media distracts them when they should be doing homework. Greater interaction on social media at age 10 was associated with worsening socio-emotional difficulties among females (Booker, et.al 2018).

Jean Twenge, professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and author of iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood writes that “the results could not be clearer: Teens who spend more time on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time on non screen activities are more likely to be happy.”

The students in our care are expansive relational learners–they thrive in environments that encourage regular in-person interaction and outside of the classroom engagement with peers, teachers and staff. In order to promote distraction-free engagement in the classroom and during unstructured times of the school day, The Agnes Irwin School is a cell-phone free learning environment. Students turn in their phones at the beginning of the day and pick them up before they leave campus for the day. Since this policy was implemented in Fall 2024, educational productivity and community connectivity have significantly increased.

Partnerships and Programs

Visit our Partnerships and Programs page to learn about how we extend opportunities for girls to learn, to lead, and to live a legacy.