Single Gender Classes AFF

1AC
Version 1

We affirm the resolution: Single gender classrooms would improve the quality of
education in American public schools.

We offer the following definitions:

Single gender classrooms: Schools designated for either male or female students.

Improve, - is to make better.

The Quality of education, - as defined by UNESCO, is to improve a students cognitive development



Observation 1: No Child Left Behind Act states that for every single gender class, there must also be a
coed alternative. The resolution says single gender classrooms, and not schools so
we can have both single gender and coed classrooms within one school.

Observation 2: Title IX law states that every single gender classes must be completely voluntary and
that coed and single gender classes must be presented equal opportunities. Therefore single gender
class is an option for students, not a forced.

Observation 3: The resolution says that single gender classrooms would improve the quality of
education so the affirmatives only burden in this round is to illustrate that in some cases there could
be improvement not that single gender classrooms are better everywhere.


The standard for this round should be fostering intellectual growth and improvement. This is the best
standard because:

1. One of US Department of Educations missions is to promote student achievement by
fostering educational excellence, so its a goal in the US education system.
2. Education is the primary reason people attend school


Contention 1: Single gender classrooms increase intellectual performance for both genders.

a. Boys and girls are scientifically shown to learn differently.

Novotney, Amy. Http://www.apa.org. Rep. American Psychological Association, Feb. 2011.
Web.
12 Mar. 2014.
According to a 2007 longitudinal pediatric neuroimaging study led by a team of neuroscientists from the National
Institute of Mental Health, various brain regions develop in a different sequence and tempo in girls compared with
boys (NeuroImage, Vol. 36, No. 4). Using 829 brain scans gathered over two years from 387 subjects from 3 to 27 years old,
researchers found several remarkable differences. The occipital lobe, for example the one most
associated with visual processing shows rapid development in girls 6 to 10 years old, while boys
show the largest growth in this region after 14 years old. Other studies have also shown disparities in
language processing between the sexes, concluding that the language areas of the brain in many 5yearold
boys look similar to that of many 3yearold girls (Developmental Neuropsychology, Vol. 16, No. 3).Timing is
everything, in education as in many other fields, says Sax, author of several books on the science of sex differences, including
Girls on the Edge: The Four Factors Driving the New Crisis for Girls (Basic Books, 2010). Its not enough to teach well you have
to teach well to kids who are developmentally ripe for learning. For example, asking 5yearold boys to sit still, be quiet and pay
attention is often not developmentally appropriate for them, but there are other ways to teach boys to read that dont require
boys to sit still and be quiet, he says.

To this end, because boys and girls brains develop differently, teaching boys and girls with
different methods would be more effective.

b. This works in practice.

Demography Journal conducted a study in various American public schools, where
students had choices to enroll in single gender or coed classes. Every class was publicly
funded, and there were no differences in teacher training, class size, demographics,
socioeconomic background or prior academic achievement of the students.

The results were astounding. Those in single gender classrooms were more likely to
attend a 4 year college and achieved higher on standardized tests than their counterparts
in coed classrooms. In almost every grade level, those in single gender classrooms did
over 40 60% better than those in the coed classrooms.

In addition, US Department of Education that evaluated single sex public schools in the US
stated that in academic and socioemotional outcomes, 35% more students favored single
gender classes than coed classrooms. Therefore, choice of single gender class greatly
benefits students of both genders.

Contention 2: Single gender classrooms support minority and low-income
Students

In coed classrooms, the minority like African Americans and low-income students often
dont excel to their potential because of lower teacher expectations and different social
pressures. UC San Diego and USC gathered students who were minorities, low-income and
underachieving, then put them in single gender classrooms.

The results showed that the students who were underperforming began to care about
school and achieved not only higher scores, but also greater social interactions with other
students. Teach For America states that after implementing single gender classrooms in
Chicagos most struggling neighborhoods, graduation rate went from 44% to 100% in the
past 3 years.

US Department of Education concludes that systematic review of 40 best quantitative
studies of single gender classrooms lends factual support to the idea that single gender
classrooms benefit minorities and high poverty students in urban areas. American
education today needs more options, not fewer.


Contention 3: Single gender classrooms would reduce gender discrimination and thus
enhance personal development skills.

US Department of Education states that in single gender classrooms, girls and boys both
showed notable improvement in areas of self worth, peer interactions, academic behaviors,
and socioemotional aspects. By having a single gender classroom, we reduce discrimination
caused by gender stereotyping because there is essentially no gender in the classrooms.

In 2003 University of Virginia study found that boys who attended single sex schools were
more than twice as likely to pursue interests in subjects such as art, music, and drama
compared to their counterparts in coed schools.

New York Times furthers that gender stereotypes were worsened in students of coed
classes, and moderated in students of single gender classes, and kept these ideas for over 20
years. Therefore, single gender classrooms enhance students natural potential, and allow
them to broaden their horizons even years after they graduate.


Thus we Affirm