When former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings met with private school leaders in March 2005, she remarked, "In God we trust; all others, bring data."

Last month, St. Andrew's Priory graduated 44 young women, 100 percent of whom were accepted into prestigious colleges and universities across the nation and even Canada.

This impressive group of young women received nearly $3 million in merit scholarships. I am proud to say that in Hawai'i we provide young women educational choices. In view of that, I'd like to offer additional data that further supports the value of an all-girls education.

In the March 27 issue of The Advertiser, my colleague Betty White from Sacred Hearts Academy presented interesting findings from a recent UCLA study examining how women graduates of single-sex and coeducational high schools differ in their characteristics and in their transition to college.

The results contribute greatly to the debate over single-gender education and make a strong case for the advantages that all-girls' schools offer to those young women who are serious about becoming leaders in society.

The data presented by the UCLA study suggests that girls who attend single-gender schools demonstrate a higher level of political involvement; achieve better SAT scores; have greater self-confidence; show an increased interest in math, sciences, and engineering; and have a greater interest in attending graduate school.

Inspired by these results, I sought out data of my own. Through informal research, I discovered that of the 35 women who have won the Nobel Prize, 20 of them had attended an all-girls' school or women's college for either all or part of their education. Additionally, roughly one-third of the women in the Senate and one-third of the Council of Women World leaders had done the same. The alumnae list of all-girls' schools is as impressive as it is illustrative.

Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katherine Sibelius, Colleen Hanabusa, a 1966 graduate of the Priory, and even the incoming president of the University of Hawai'i, M.R.C. Greenwood, attended all-female schools. So did world leaders Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, the empress of Japan, Princess Anne, Princess Diana, and the current and former president of Ireland — just to name a few. In fact, Princess Abigail Kawananakoa graduated from an all-girls' boarding school, Notre Dame High School in Belmont, Calif.

What is truly remarkable about these statistics is that although fewer than 3 percent of the world's women attend or have attended all-girls' schools, the possibility of becoming a person of public influence later in life — be it Nobel laureate or secretary of state — actually becomes much more likely for those women who do. Girls' schools are intentional communities, where girls and their intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development are the primary focus every single day. In schools where "girls run the world," every leader, every athlete and every prize winner is a girl. Given the list of alumnae, that definitely seems to count for something.

The question that then presents itself is why more parents don't choose — or even consider — an all-girls school for their daughter? In a girls' school, girls can do anything. They embrace their own strength, articulate their goals and are unafraid of the future. In this empowering learning environment, girls are educated with the belief that they will always have choices and that they have the power to change the world if they so choose.

In Hawai'i, unlike many other metropolitan centers, choosing a girls' school over coeducational options is a countercultural choice — and local culture is a powerful force.

Given the data, however, it is my belief that looking beyond local convention may now be an imperative for parents with a global focus for their daughters. The evidence, both anecdotal and statistical, speaks for itself. Now all we can do is hope that it will lead many more young women to discover their own strength through the extraordinary opportunity of a single-gender education.