Research On Single Sex Education

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), brain child of President Johnson, was passed in 1965. ESEA was intended to mitigate disparities in access to quality academic services and learning outcomes endured by underprivileged and minority students by federally funding schools serving their communities. ESEA, later revised as No Child Left Behind, was to be one element in a larger reform agenda focused on urban redevelopment, vocational training and “EDUCATION AND HEALTH” (Thomas & Brady, 2005). In his 1965 State of the Union, Johnson proclaimed, “No longer will we tolerate widespread involuntary idleness, unnecessary human hardship and misery, the impoverishment of whole areas… ” Nevertheless, this intractable problem remains, as illustrated by recent National Assessment of Educational Progress findings:

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first to enact a civil rights law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), to combat the achievement gap in low-income communities. ESEA provided Federal grants to districts with substantial numbers of low-income students to offset the cost of textbooks, library books, special education centers, scholarships for low-income college students, and to improve elementary and secondary education. While ESEA remains as the policy foundation to lessen the opportunity gap, it was not sufficient and improvements were needed (“Every Student Succeeds”, n.d.).

Education is one of the most important aspects of the United States and it is highly regarded, but, many years ago it wasn’t. In 1887 President Andrew Johnson signed legislation creating the Department of Education. Although Andrew Johnson a president, created this department it was still looked down upon. It was one of the departments that might’ve been considered a joke to the cabinet because it wasn’t allowed to be represented in the cabinet. And when thinking about it, having the education department not in the cabinet where the bills are created, was a crazy thought , especially to think that people who weren’t really in the education system other than being a student is allowed to call the shots in attempts to make it fair for the education

“In 1983 American education reform entered a new era. It was in that year that the federal government published a report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education entitled A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Commissioned in August 1981 by President Ronald Reagan's secretary of education, Terrel H. Bell, and chaired by David P.” (1). School reform has been poisoning our American educational system for 33 years and keeps on going with Obamas’ No Child Left Behind. This article should inform you on how school reform had developed, what is still causing the problem, and how school reform affects society.

The education system has been the cornerstone of freedom and equity for economic success in The United States. However, the history of education has never been so crucial to the collective future of our nation and to the young people. The public schools must struggle to provide equality in educational system as never before. The demand for education has become necessary and growing to provide education for all students to comply with the rigorous academic standards on a global scale (Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., Farrie, D. (2010, p. 1).

The federal government found a need to get involved with the educational system putting an emphasizing on math and science to help further advance our technologies. The government did that with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. The ESEA was part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons “War on Poverty” and the first part of the program allocated funds to primary and secondary schools. The second part of the Act aimed to created equal availability of education to all with no discrimination and to create higher quality of learning.

The Civil Rights era of the 1950’s and 1960’s ushered in copious federal spending directed towards the desegregation of American Society. Moreover, the ultimate goal was the creation of a leveled playing field that would allow minorities opportunities to gain access and reap benefits that had not been traditionally extended to them, thereby resulting in large disparities in wealth, resource, and education between races and cultures. In a courageous attempt to amend these woes, Congress passed a series of legislation designed to achieve these ends. One of the most notable pieces of legislation passed during this era was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Created with all-deliberate intention of desegregating schools

In 1965, it was the first government initiative toward a practical solution in attempting to contain this uprising income achievement gap as they issued the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Unsurprisingly, this act gained lots of popularity among education reformers at that time as its objective was to provide equal education opportunities to all students nationwide whether they are rich or poor. Nonetheless, the ESEA was just a quick, ready solution to provide funds to schools at that time but not one that was extensively studied to ensure true equality in distributing those funds. Title I of the Act, which is still implement in the new version of the ESEA that’s now called the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, was the most important part which contained the initiative of providing funds to eligible schools and the way they would be distributed. According to Phyllis McClure, a civil rights activist who also served in the U.S. Office of Education’s Title I Task Force, this Title I in particular contained a “loophole” that allowed for poor schools to still not get their equal share of the funds (McClure). The problem lied in what was called the "comparability provision" law of Title I which allowed Title I schools, that uses a traditional budgeting system based on their average teacher salary, to show a comparable expenditure of their teachers’

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is a federal program that concentrates on equality. The program was passed in 1965 and was passed to support public education for students who come from low-income families (Guthrie, Hart, Ray, Candoli & Hack, 2008).

American education since 1930 has seen a gradual increase in the involvement of the federal government. This intervention has been marked by two major goals: 1.) increasing educational opportunity and equality, especially for groups from which these had been historically denied. 2.) Increasing the quality of education to strengthen communities, states and the nation. The most significant growth of the federal involvement in education has taken place since World War II.

Education has been an important factor of all of our lives for an exceptional amount of time, but unfortunately, America has been falling behind from other nations in their education system compared to other nations (Pahlke 444). Almost all of our public schools in our country are coeducational and only handful of them are single-sex educational schools. Single-sex education should be taken into high consideration for most students to attend because of the benefits they might gain from them. It is important to look at all possible ways to try and better our education system for the benefit of the children and teenagers attending school. The most important years of schooling that provide a solid background for all students would be

Schooling is a major factor that helps with the development of a child. Schooling sets up the foundation for the child to ensure that they get a quality education to leading them in a positive direction for their future. Single sex education gives opportunities for specific genders in the classroom. Single sex education allows students to grasp concepts and to work on a deeper level within their respective gender. Single sex education enhances children to build self confidence within their genders fostering a positive learning environment. Another advantage is that the student has additional opportunities to pursue roles that that they possibly wouldn’t be inclined to participate in if they were in a coeducation school. The opportunities and obstacles with the single sex education help develop a well rounded student. The expected standards within the single sex education can result in the student establishing higher goals while allowing the students to be themselves without the distraction of the other gender.

People who argue for single- sex education would state things such as boys and girls learn differently, there is less classroom distractions, and that they allow girls to feel less pressure at school. Wesley Sharpe, an administrator for Education World, states, “Teachers of all-girl classes seemed to validate the idea that girls performed better in single-sex classes. "I enjoy seeing girls participate so much in class discussions. ... And, like it or not, girls seem to talk more in class in an all-female school. I often see a whole classroom of eighth graders sharing ideas in an animated manner," said Sharon Johnson-Cramer.” (2) The girls would have to feel less pressure to look nice and impress boys in a single-sex school, and it is a valid argument to say that their attention would have to be more so on their education if their class mates where all girls as well. However, Sharpe also states, “There is no evidence in general that single-sex education works or is better for girls than coeducation, and when elements of a good education are present, girls and boys succeed. Elements include small classes and schools, equitable teaching practices, and focused academic curriculum.” (3) Those statements can go hand in hand to show that every child has the ability to become successful no matter the environment as long as they’re being taught in the appropriate way.

No one can argue that males and females the same. Science proves their brains are different, thus leading to the question of how they should be educated. Some say males and females should definitely be taught in the same classroom, while others argue of the benefits of separate but equal learning environments. Educationally, the law has tried to make equal learning possibilities for both genders. Although there are arguments against the effectiveness of single-sex schools, thorough research proves that these schools generally provide more effective learning and education than coeducational schools.

In education there are two types of educational settings, single-sex and co-ed. The former is where only one gender is taught in either a school or a classroom and co-ed is where both sex intertwine an learn in a classroom or school together. Single-sex education helps the girls or boys learn at their own paste. Some benefits to single-sex educational settings to consider are style of learning, higher education, interest’s and how more independent students from singe-sex schools are.