Do+students+develop+differently+academically+in+single+sex+schools?

**Do students develop differently academically in single sex schools? **
//1. Associated Press,. "More schools test single sex classrooms." MSNBC 6 Jul 2006: n. pag. Web. 26 Apr 2011. [].//

**__Summary __**: A portion of this news article from MSNBC reports on a school in Atlanta, GA back in the year 2006 and it explains how two class rooms of students, one all male and the other all female work on the same robotics project. The article further states how both groups of students perform while working on the same project, the boys in groups and talking with others while the girls work independently and quietly, showing a gap between the two learning styles. However, this article also shows how people may not agree with the idea of "separate but equal" schooling for children. Those against also believe that this breaks of the most simple laws of segregation.

**__Reaction __**: I found this article to be helpful in my researching process because this article gave facts and numbers for evidence that has not been easy to find. Focusing on a school in Florida the article states that the percentage of students that passed the writing tests in Florida doubled when the students were separated into single sex classrooms. The schools that this article examines are not solely all-boys or all-girls school but about schools using the new form of education where the students are separated for their classes but they still all attend the same school.

2. Gibb, S. J., Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. (2008). Effects of single-sex and coeducational schooling on the gender gap in educational achievement. Australian Journal of Education, 52(3), 301-317. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

**__Summary __**: Gibbs journal focuses on the gender gap in educational achievement up to the age of 25. He focuses on students born in 1977 in New Zealand following their academic journey in both co-educational and single sex schools. The article explains that the gender gap favored female more than males of the students who attended the co-educational school. The article suggests that separating the males from the females in the classroom will increase the academic development of male students. The article also states that some studies suggest that even when students are separated by gender, compared to one another female’s academic achievement in a single sex setting will still achieve higher grades then males also in the same classroom setting.


 * __Reaction __**: I found it interesting that the gender gap of students even when separated by gender still exists when both genders are compared to one another. Most of the evidence that Gibb gives favors females in their academic achievement. Recently in the news I learned that more females now have bachelor’s degrees then men. I find it interesting that so many factors prove that females are more academically advanced yet compared to males, are college in the workforce females are still paid less. After taking in all the sources on this specific topic I feel that schools should offer separate but equal classrooms because it could help benefit the students

//3.Staff, GreatSchools. (n.d.). Single-sex education: the pros and cons. Retrieved from //[|//http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/1139-single-sex-education-the-pros-and-cons.gs//]

**__Summary __**: This newspaper article dissects the pros and cons of single sex education and what each side has to say about it. Throughout the article it discusses the views of both parties that are for and against the idea of educating children in both single sex and co-educational environments. Those who are for single sex education agrees that it is important for students at a certain age need the structure of a single sex classroom to be able to focus without the other sex. It also goes into detail about how the actual environment of a classroom can affect the sex of the child and the learning development. Whereas the people that are against the idea of single sex education state in the article that teachers are not trained for single sex classroom settings and they do not have teaching techniques that will work best with one specific gender. This article also presents many statistics and experiences to show both sides of the argument.

**__Reaction __**: While reading this article I could relate to some of the perspectives that the article presents on how certain sexes work in an academic environment. For example the article states that the people that are for single sex education provided evidence that female students generally to better in a warmer climate compared to male students. I agree with this point, I can focus on my work better when in a warmer climate. I can put into perspective both sides of the argument that is presented in this article and I feel that either situation can work for students, but if students do need more of a structured environment it may be a good choice to send that student to a single-sex school. This article would be worth the time of parents considering single sex or co-educational school systems for their children because it gives both view points and explains how a student can still develop well academically in both environments.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">//4. Sullivan, A. (2009). Academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 259-288. doi:10.1080/01411920802042960//

**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Summary __**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">: This article explains gender differences in an academic setting and if students who are educated in single sex institutions have differing perceptions of their abilities compared to those who attend co-educational schools. This article also defines how each person has a self-concept or self-perceptions of their own self and how it relates to someone’s academic ability. The article also shows how underlying gender stereotypes of sextypical subject’s effect how well a student succeeds in the subject depending on their gender and whether or not the student will further pursue those subjects.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Reaction __**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">: After reading this article I found it interesting how a person develops this idea of self concept and how it can affect the way a person develops academically. It interests me even more in the sense on how a student depending on the type of learning environment (i.e. single sex or co-educational settings) the student is in also affects the self concept and academic development. I found it very true when the article explained how single sex schools try to take down the walls of sextypical subjects. The article defined “sextypical subjects” as such, more males gravitate toward science and math subjects and usually succeed in these subjects; whereas, female students tend to lean toward language and history. I found this true in my own schooling experience, more the math and science teachers that I encountered were male whereas, the language and history teachers were female. I personally tended to do better in language classes then science classes. The article states that in single sex schools they try to break down walls and the students will typically do better in a single sex classroom in those “sextypical subjects”. When researching single sex schools this piece was very informative and opened my eyes to something that I have been oblivious too throughout my schooling years.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">5. Tyre, P., Murr, A., Juarez, V., Underwood, A., Springen, K., & Wingert, P. (2006). The Trouble With Boys. Newsweek, 147(5), 44-52. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Summary __**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Newsweek’s article //The Trouble With Boys// examines the decline of male students excelling in school. The article explains various factors as to why male students have not been developing academically as well as females have within the past 10-20 years. On the flip side of the factors causing male students to decline the article also gives solutions to increase male students academically. One solution the article gives is the need for single-sex education specifically in core subjects. The article uses an experiment used by a middle school in Colorado who split students in the 6th grade and found that the male students were willing to go beyond the lesson to learn more when the other female students were not present. The final verdict from these experiments was that the all girl classes did better in all subjects, then all the boy class followed by the co-ed classes. Even though the male students did come behind the female students they still came ahead of the students in the co-educational setting.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Reaction __**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: After reading this article and as a future educator I like to learn everything I can about educating. This article helps me understand that yes, students of the same gender tend to do better when all together. I found it also interesting how male students would benefit more from the idea of single sex education then female students. If given the opportunity as an educator I would not object to teaching in schools that practice all gefemale and all male classrooms because if it allows my students to be able to learn better and be more apt to participate it would be rewarding.