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Single-sex education does not boost academic performance, according to a new study.

After analyzing 184 studies of more than 1.6 million students from around the world, researchers found that single-sex education does not educate girls and boys any better than coed schools.

"Proponents of single-sex schools argue that separating boys and girls increases students' achievement and academic interest," researcher Janet Shibley Hyde, PhD, of University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a news release. "Our comprehensive analysis of the data shows that these advantages are trivial and, in many cases, nonexistent."

While previous studies showed some benefits for both boys and girls in math performance in single-sex school, the latest research reveals no significant advantages in math after using at more rigorous research methods.

The latest study involved 1,663,662 participants in 21 countries. Researchers examined students' performance and attitudes in math and science; verbal skills; and attitudes about school, gender stereotyping, aggression, victimization and body image. They found no evidence revealing differences between boys and girls in single-sex or coed classrooms.

"The theoretical approach termed 'girl power' argues that girls lag behind boys in some subjects in coed classrooms," co-author Erin Pahlke, PhD, of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, said in a statement. "This is not supported by our analysis and, moreover, girls' educational aspirations were not higher in single-sex schools."

The findings are published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.