Single-Sex Education

Term Paper April 2, 2010 Single-Sex Education Have you ever been sitting in a classroom and wondered what it would be like to have an entire class with just girls or just boys? What about an entire school? The drive for gender equity in American education occurred during the 1970’s and 1980’s, which was pushing coeducation forward. The Title IX legislation, passed by Congress in 1972, sharpened public awareness of equity issues that were related to gender.Public concerns about sexual freedom; a rise in unmarried–especially teenage– pregnancy; and the growth of sexually transmitted diseases led to a reconsideration of coeducational guidelines. In the late 1970’s, researchers began to note the higher levels of women academic achievements at single-sex colleges compared to coeducational institutions. In a 1992 published report, the American Association of University Women questioned whether or not coeducation was the best way to achieve the higher leve ls of accomplishments for young women.They claimed that women were more likely to be ignored in class discussions and subjects to threats of sexual harassment. Educational reformers were concerned about the low academic performances of young African-American males. They began to explore the possibility of all-male academies, to provide an environment that would be free of distractions in which these students could focus on achievements. (Rury, 2008) When tolled together, the numbers are not in favor of single-sex education because ninety-six percent of private schools are coeducational (Kennedy, 2010).Kennedy stated that only one point eight percent of girls and two point two percent of boys are educated in single-sex schools (2010). But this could be because out of the ninety-three thousand public schools in America, only two hundred and forty-one of them even offer single-sex classes (McNamara, 2006). According to CBS Evening news reporter, Melissa McNamara stated, â€Å"Three ye ars ago, Woodward Elementary near Orlando, Florida, separated boys and girls. The school's standardized test scores have jumped for both genders.After two years of same-sex classes, seventy-one percent of students beat the national average in reading, and seventy-nine percent beat it in math (2006). † The first academic source I found that directly relates to my topic is called â€Å"Effect of single-sex education on progress in GCSE,† written by Eva Malacova. A recent study found that boys in single-sex schools do better on average GCSE, while girls on total GCSE scores. If you do not know what GCSE is a public examination taken by sixteen year old school pupils in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland at the end of Year Eleven.Another study was done that showed boys performed better in single-sex grammar schools compared to their peers in mixed schools. Also lower ability boys did better in single-sex comprehensive schools than coeducational schools. (Malacova, 2007) A nother study that was done, reported that girls in single-sex independent schools achieve on average 0. 179 GCSE points more than those in coeducational independent schools for prior performance, but they achieved 0. 175 points lower progress on average for grammar schools. The same study also stated that boys in single-sex independent schools seem to achieve on average 0. 04 GCSE points more than boys attending coeducational independent schools, but they achieved 0. 273 points lower progress on average for grammar schools. In conclusion for this academic journal source, girls that attended single-sex independent schools achieve higher progress from GCSE when compared to peers in coeducational independent schools. It was the same for boys, as it said that boys in single-sex independent schools seem to achieve a higher mean GCSE score compared to their peers in coeducational independent schools. (Malacova, 2007)The second academic article I found was entitled â€Å"Single-sex school ing: is it simply a ‘class act’? † written by Georgina Tsolidis and Ian R. Dobson. They stated that single-sex education will not provide students with the full range of curriculum options, role models, and experience of each other, which make an easier successful social interest into future study and work. This source stated that the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education reported on a study by the National Foundation for Educational Research which discovered that both boys and girls did significantly better in single-sex schools than in mixed schools. Tsolidis ;amp; Dobson, 2006) The final academic journal source I found is, â€Å"Cross-school Mentoring: training and implementing a peer mentoring strategy† by Gill Pyatt. This journal talked about a mentoring program that United Kingdom has been using that started early 1980’s and then was later improved after Topping combined a variety of practices. The program has Year Seven students , ages eleven to twelve, from a United Kingdom inner-city girl’s school, get cross-mentored by Year Twelve, ages sixteen and seventeen years old, from another local girl’s school. (Pyatt, 2002)The Year Twelve girls had to go through a training program that lasted a total of twelve hours, to advance them for what was to come when they were start mentoring and throughout the mentoring program. The training consisted of listening skills which taught them to become better listeners, how to find solutions to the Year Seven girls’ problems, and confidentiality. The program also taught the Year Twelve girls how to look at it from the Year Seven girls’ perspectives and how to encourage the younger pupils to recognize and read moods of other people, adults and peers. Pyatt, 2002) After the training program the Year Twelve girls were introduced to the forty girls that they were going to mentor of Year Seven. The four Year Twelve girls mentored the five Year Seven g irls which occurred weekly, throughout the summer, for seven weeks for about a quarter of an hour on every occasion. As the autumn term came a new team of four mentors was recruited from the Year Twelve group and twenty new Year Seven students were chosen. (Pyatt, 2002)By the end of the autumn term it was agreed that the cross-mentoring program had been very helpful, beneficial, and was a complete success. The program benefitted both the Year Seven girls and Year Twelve girls. Especially the Year Seven girls though because they gained more self-confidence and had a more settled beginning to their new secondary stage of education. The current project was said to continue for years to come and there are plans to expand the mentoring strategy to include identified students from Year Eight and Year Nine. Pyatt, 2002) There are multiple sociological view points that a person could use to describe single-sex education. The first view point a person could use is the functionalistic view. T he functionalist theory could be applied to single-sex education because it limits the amounts of sexual temptations that normal coeducation high schools students have to deal with. This will then result in you getting a better grades because you will not have to worry about how pretty you look or how you can make yourself to look more sexually attractive.Furthermore males will not feel the urge to try to impress the women and to be physical fit and perfect. From both the male and female perspective, it reduces the amount of stress that normal coeducational high school students have to put up with. Single-sex education also provides fewer distractions that can be created by the students of the opposite sex, which can, in the end, increase your grades because you will be provided with a lot more opportunities to work harder and longer on your school work. The second view point a person could use is the conflict view.The conflict theory could be applied to single-sex education because usually only the people that are supplied with enough money and are well off are able to have their children attend to these schools. If you really think about it, how many people with money problems or of middle class have children that attend a single-sex school? Single-sex schools tend to be very pricey and cost way too much for people of middle class and below to afford. Usually only the rich are sent to these schools, which only enables well off people and students to usually only associate with other well off people or students.Another view point a person could use is from a religious view. A religious view point could be applied to single-sex education because it makes it easier to assist students to prolong their practice absence. This is because they are only attending school with students of the same gender so it limits their options of places to meet boys and to date. Single-sex schools also gives support to and helps with premarital sex. This is also because they are no t attending school with the opposite gender which enables them to focus more on other things such as academics, athletics, and other activities.In single-sex schools students that already have boyfriends or girlfriends will be less temped and will have fewer opportunities to be able to cheat on their boyfriend or girlfriend. The culture I selected was the United Kingdom. The similarity between the United Kingdom and the United States on the topic of single-sex education is an obvious fact, which is that students that attend the schools are the same. Another thing they have in common is that in both places the studies usually showed that single-sex schools was the better choice because the boys and girls had higher test scores.The difference between the United States and the United Kingdom is the number practicing single-sex teaching has shot up in the United Kingdom in the last four years from seven to two-hundred-and-twenty-three. As opposed to the United Kingdom, in the United Sta tes the overall trend is in the opposite direction because in the last decade one-hundred-and-thirty independent schools that were single-sex schools have either become coeducational schools or closed down. In the state sector the number of single-sex schools has fallen in the past forty years from nearly two-thousand-five-hundred to just over four-hundred. Asthana, 2006) When I search the internet I found, and got the following information from Marian High School’s web page at marian. dev, an all girl school called Marian High School located in Northwest Omaha; it is the only Class A, college-prep school for girls.The school is also religious and says that it is committed to teaching and living the six core values, which are inspired by our sponsoring order, the Servants of Mary. At this school, the web page also said, you are enforced to wear a uniform which consists of either a uniform sweatshirt, Dennis hunter green top with he school’s logo, or club sweatshirt or shirt for the top. For the bottom half of the uniform you have to wear either a Dennis, black watch, plaid skirt or skort that is not shorter than the extended finger tips, zipped and not rolled at the waist or Dennis khaki slacks or khaki walking shorts that is not shorter than the extended finger tips. One way single-sex education is depicted into the media is through the television show â€Å"Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. † In the show all the children attend a single-sex school.This television show supports what I said earlier about how usually only the people who are well off are able to send their children to single-sex schools. In the show the dad, Phillip Banks, is very rich because he is a judge. In the show, it obviously demonstrates how rich the Banks are because they live in a mansion, have a pool, have a pool house, and even have a butler named Geoffrey Barbara. Another way single-sex education is depicted in the media is through â€Å"The Amy Oliver Show: Single-Sex Education. In this podcast it is mostly about encouraging single-sex education and talks about various topics. Some of the topics are the options, who should decide whether or not you go to a single-sex school, and Title IX and single-sex education. (Kasic, 2008) In my own views about single-sex education in light of the information I have just reviewed I found out that single-sex schools seem like the better choice when looking for a better education. Numbers obviously have proved my point about when separate girls and boys do better with their studies then when together.I do agree that, especially girls, sometimes focus more on how sexually attractive we are or how to look more attractive than we do on our school work, which I think is really sad. I also know that in school kids can get sexual temptations to want and feel the need to skip class to go screw around with a person of the opposite sex in the library or backstage or something. As for suggestions for social change that I would make if change seems to be needed, the only thing I could think of is to somehow have social events, like once a month or so, that included an all boy’s and all girl’s school.This way they will develop some type of social skills with the opposite sex without having to see them and trying to impress them every day. This way they will not have to put up with the distractions the opposite sex causes for the other or the sexual temptations that normal coeducational high school students have to go through five days a week.