Pro I

Kartik and I negate,

Resolved: Single-Gender Classrooms would improve the Quality of Education in American Public Schools .
We provide the following information:
Observation 1: As the White House1 defines the objective of education as preparing Americans for future jobs
and ensuring middle class security, the team which maximizes both will win the debate.

Contention 1: Career Preparedness

Single-sex education better prepares students for a career. There are three reasons for this.
First, increased motivation. A study by Kristen Hardman2 revealed individuals who attended single-sex tend to
be more motivated or put more emphasis on achieving success in their educational and professional lives.
Second, leadership flourishes. Hartman3 continues that girls and boys who attend single-sex classes are more
often career oriented and more motivated when it comes to their professional development. Girls have greater
opportunities to take on leadership roles in single-gender environments giving them greater access to
responsibility and career preparedness.

1 The White House

Defining the quality of education http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education

To prepare Americans for the jobs of the future and help restore middle-class security, we have to out-educate the world and
that starts with a strong school system.

2 Kristen Hartman, Providence College March 2010 Increased

Evidence\Hartman 2010- Increased emphasis on educational goals.pdf

emphasis on educational goalsCase

100 students in the Northeast were surveyed in order to find the relationship between attending single-sex high school and the
females level of self esteem, motivation in the academic and career life, and gender role beliefs. The p value for this Mann-Whitney Test was .043.
This is significant, and shows that the individuals who attended single-sex tend to be more motivated or put more emphasis on
achieving success in their educational and professional lives.

3 Kristen Hartman, Providence College March 2010 Emphasis

Evidence\Hartman 2010- Emphasis on leadership and motivation.pdf

on leadership and motivationCase

Third, educational attainment. Lianne Woodward PhD from the Council for Educational Research4 finds her
statistical analyses a pervasive tendency for children attending single-gender classes to attain higher levels of
educational achievement than their co-ed peers. Woodward furthers, children from single-sex environments had
greater success in the School Certificate Examinations, obtained higher reading scores, were less likely to leave
school early, and were less likely to have been unemployed by the age of 18 compared to children from co-ed environments
Furthermore this logic is proven empirically
First, Gerald Bracey from the Education Policy Research Unit finds lower unemployment rates among students from single-sex learning environments.
http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPSL-0611-221-EPRU.pdf

Fred Mael from the American Institute for Research5 finds in his meta-analyses of over 50 studies that singlesex schooling is directly associated with a number of post-high school long-term positive outcomes. These
include, but are not limited to, postsecondary success and reduced unemployment.
Woodward, Fergusson, and Horwood find in their analyses that after controlling for all background and extraneous factors, students from Single-sex schools had lower
rates of unemployment. (same as above site)

Single-sex schools allow girls to succeed in areas where they may not have if their male peers were present (The National Association for
Single Sex Public Education). It is a common educational belief that boys have a tendency to steal their teachers attention, making it more difficult for girls to have direct contact with their teachers . Girls who
attend single-sex high schools are also said to have higher test scores, higher self-esteem, less traditional sex-role attitudes and
are frequently more involved in school leadership positions (Thompson, 2003). Women who graduate from single-sex high
schools not only tend to have less traditional sex-role attitudes, but they are also more likely to choose less traditional fields of study upon entering college.
Women who attend single-sex high schools are indeed more likely to choose more male dominated majors than their female
peers who attended coed schools (Thompson, 2003). Since single-sex high schools allow girls the opportunity to excel and explore in fields which are traditionally male dominated, girls
in these settings have more confidence and experience in these fields making them want to pursue careers in these areas later on.

4 Lianne Woodward,

PhD Psychology, Council for Educational Research 2012 SS higher levels of

educational attainment.Case Evidence\Woordward 2012- SS higher levels of educational attainment..pdf
18 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 668 children, this paper examines the effects of single-sex and coeducational
This analysis showed a pervasive tendency for children attending single-sex schools to have
greater success in the School Certificate examinations, higher Burt reading scores, greater school retention, less likelihood of
leaving school without qualifications and less exposure to unemployment than children attending coeducational schools. These
differences were evident for both boys and girls.
Using prospective data gathered over the course of an

secondary schooling on childrens academic achievement.

5 Fred

Mael, American Institute for Research, U.S. Department of Education 2005 SS associated with
long term positive outcomesCase Evidence\Mael 2005- SS associated with long term positive outcomes.pdf
In all, 40 studies met the inclusion criteria and were retained in the quantitative review. The following table shows results of each study according to the seven broad questions listed above and is broken into specific criteria

. Specifically, there are 112 findings considered in the 40

quantitative studies. Having said that, the results still suggest the potential that SS schooling could be associated with a
number of posthigh school, long-term positive outcomes. These include postsecondary success or participation in collegiate
activities while maintaining full-time enrollment for a four-year period, reduced unemployment, reduced propensity to drop
out of high school, the choice of a nontraditional college major, and political activism.
within each larger category. Because some studies addressed multiple criteria, the total number of findings is greater than 40

Contention 2: Academic Achievement

Students who study in single-gender classrooms perform better academically than students in co-ed classrooms.
Amy Hayes from the UT Department of Psychology6 studied 484 students to test for benefits of single sex
schooling. Samples indicated that the single sex students outperformed the co-ed students even when student
driven selection efforts were controlled. The target single sex school was the highest performing of the 18
regular public middle schools in the sample
Alice Sullivan from the American Education Research Journal7, conducted a longitudinal study of 14,700
students in examining school composition effects. The raw figures indicated an advantage in exam attainment
by over 30% for single-sex classes for girls

6 Amy Hayes,

Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin January 2011 SS school highest

achieving of all other public schoolsBlock File Evidence\Hayes 2011- SS school highest achieving of all other public
schools.pdf
Consistent with other work (Kurdek and Sinclair 2000), regression analyses indicated that the overall achievement level of the student
body was a significant predictor of individual students achievement, even after accounting for variations in individuals
performance in the year prior to middle school. School district data indicated that the target single-sex school in this study was
the highest achieving of the 18 regular public middle schools in the sample.

7 Alice Sullivan, American Education Research Journal 2011

attainmenthttp://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/5940/1/Sullivan2008Single-sex(Report).pdf

SS increase exam

Douglas Roth from Colorado State University8 concluded the following in a statistical analyses of variance
using statistical calculations over three years and 1,244 students; the mean of final English test grades of
students in single sex classes was significantly higher than those of mixed sex classes. The mean final of
History test grades of students in single sex classes was also higher than those of mixed sex classes. The same
pattern was found for Math and Science. He concludes, the results of his study favored single-gender classes in
all four core subject areas.
Furthermore, this is empirically shown in a real world classroom environment.
Researches at Stetson University9 in Florida completed a 3 year pilot program comparing single sex classrooms
with Co-ed classrooms. After controlling for all factors, results were based on scores on the FCAT. Boys and
Girls in co-ed classes scored 37, and 59%, respectively, while boys and girls in single sex classes scored 75 and
86% respectively

8 Douglas Roth, Colorado State University 2010 Benefits

Evidence\Roth 2010- Benefits in Math, Science, History, and English.pdf

in Math, Science, History, and EnglishBlock File

Again using a significance level of a = .05, an independent-samples /-test was conducted between the English mean final grade
percentages of the single-gender and coed classes. The results of the /-test indicated a significant difference between the two
class types, with the mean of the single-gender classes significantly higher than the mean of the coed classes. Again using a
significance level of a = .05, an independent-samples Mest was conducted between the history mean final grade percentages of
the single-gender and coed classes. The results of the t-test indicated a significant difference between the two class types, with
the mean of the single-gender classes significantly higher than the mean of the coed classes. Again using a significance level of a
= .05, an independent-samples /-test was conducted between the math mean final grade percentages of the single-gender and
coed classes. The results of the /-test indicated a significant difference between the two class types, with the mean of the singlegender classes significantly higher than the mean of the coed classes. Again using a significance level of a = .05, anindependentsamples /-test was conducted between the science mean final grade percentages of the single-gender and coed classes. The
results of the t-test indicated a significant difference between the two class types, with the mean of the single-gender classes
significantly higher than the mean of the coed classes.

9 Stetson University in Florida August 2013 Single Sex vs. Coeducation impact on
Evidence\Stetson University 2013 Single Sex vs. Coeducation impact on FCAT Results.pdf

FCAT ResultsBlock File

project comparing single-sex classrooms with coed classrooms at Woodward Avenue

Elementary School, a nearby neighborhood public school. For example, students in the 4th grade at Woodward were assigned either to single-sex or
coed classrooms. All relevant parameters were matched: the class sizes were all the same, the demographics were the same, all teachers had the
same training in what works and what doesn't work, etc. On the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test), here were
the results: Boys in coed classes: 37% scored proficient. Girls in coed classes: 59% scored proficient. Girls in single-sex classes:
75% scored proficient. Boys in single-sex classes: 86%. These students were all learning the same curriculum.
Researchers at Stetson University in Florida completed a three-year pilot