talking points seven

"Principal Mansell reports that her single-sex classes produce fewer discipline problems, more parental support and better scores in writing, reading and math. She does, however, acknowledge that her data are compromised, as her highest-performing teachers and her most-motivated students have chosen single-sex".

I chose this quote because it really jumps out at he reader. At first it would appear that these single sex classrooms are a great success and that all classrooms should be separated this way. The list of achievements from that classroom are great ones that all helped the children in a positive way. the boys and girls learn differently so maybe separating them is for the better. but it leads to the problem of these children wanting to be separated from the opposite sex all throughout their lives.

"Baby boys prefer to stare at mobiles; baby girls at faces. Boys solve maze puzzles using the hippocampus; girls use the cerebral cortex. Boys covet risk; girls shy away. Boys perform better under moderate stress; girls perform worse"

I chose this quote because i feel it somewhat explains my first quote. this goes into scientific detail about just how differently these young children are learning. they use separate parts of the brain to solve similar problems. This shows that maybe these single sex classrooms can operate in two completely different learning styles, teach the same subject, and have all the kids retain the information, and the boys and girls methods to solving the problems will be different.

"Given the myriad ways in which our schools are failing, it may be hard to remember that public schools were intended not only to instruct children in reading and math but also to teach them commonality, tolerance and what it means to be American. “When you segregate, by any means, you lose some of that,” says Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. “Even if one could prove that sending a kid off to his or her own school based on religion or race or ethnicity or gender did a little bit better job of raising the academic skills for workers in the economy, there’s also the issue of trying to create tolerant citizens in a democracy.”

I chose this final quote because it really sums up the article and why classrooms nation wide aren't sex separated. It instills a permanent sense of separation in the children, and they grow up feeling its accepted to be separated. It taking the children's minds off of whats important, which is learning the materials, and focuses it more on who is in the class with them. At these young ages children are very vulnerable to picking up bad habits. If we start separating them now, they'll desire to be separated for the rest of their lives