ACE 2

 ACE Argument Analysis Template (Argument, Claims, Evidence)

Title and Author: (Full MLA Citation): Hughes, Teresa A. "The Advantages of Single-Sex Education" The Advantages of Single-Sex Education, vol. 23, no. 2, 2006-2007, Prairie View A&M University, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED492000.pdf

A: Does the author have an argument? If yes, what is the main idea?

Yes, the author's argument is that due to the many benefits of single-sex schooling for students, every public school should have options for same sex classes along with co-ed classes.

C: What claims/reasons does the author give to support his or her main idea?

The first claim given by the author is that, in single-sex schools, students perform better, have better attitudes, and have higher attendance rates. The second claim is that, disadvantaged and minority students have been proven to perform better in single-sex classrooms, but many can't afford single-sex private schools. The final claim given by the author is that, boys and girls have very different learning styles that affect the opposite gender in the classroom, whether its taking too much attention from the teacher or having too much energy in the classroom.

E: What evidence does the author use to support these reasons?

The first claim is supported by many pieces of evidence, for example, a classroom experiment done at Matthew Henson Elementary School. "at Matthew Henson Elementary School, the country's longest all-boy classroom experiment, Dunkel reports, 'a decrease in disciplinary problems, an increase in attendance levels, [italics added] improved academic performances, and more positive attitudes." Also, academic performance increases due to a lower level of distraction, "' Freed from the worries of impressing the opposite sex, boys and girls can focus on their books' (Vail, 2002 p.35)." Finally, students were proven to participate more in single-sex classrooms, leading to higher grades, "In an all-girl setting, 'Girls exhibited an eagerness to participate in discussions and a willingness to ask for help in front of the other girls'...In Streitmatter's findings, in the single sex physics class 87.5% of the girls made an 'A' and 12.5% of the girls made a 'B'; whereas in the coeducational class only 14.3% of the girls made an 'A', 14.3% made a 'B' and 71.4% made a 'C'.

The evidence used to support this claim is from a study done by Cornelius Riordan, "Poor and disadvantaged students, Riordan found, were especially likely to benefit from single-sex education...he found that black and Latino students in single-gender schools academically outperformed their peers in co-ed Catholic schools." Another piece of evidence is stated by Caplice, "minorities tend to outpace non-minorities, even within the single-sex setting."

The final claim is supported by the evidence, "'Movement is natural to boys in a closed space, thanks to their lower serotonin and higher metabolism, which create fidgety behavior' (Gurian and Ballew, 2003, p.18)." Also, "'Movement seems to stimulate male brains and helps to manage impulsive behavior' (2003, p.18)." Boys and girls are also proven to learn differently when having discussions, "'Girls learn while attending to a code of social interaction better than boys do. Boys tend to focus on performing the task well, without as much sensitivity to the emotions of those around them' (Gurian and Ballew, 2003, p.19)." The final piece of evidence in support of this claim is, "In this environment [co-ed school], boys tended to monopolize student-teacher interactions, disrupt lessons, and dominate physical space' (2002, p.19)."

Are the reasons and evidence convincing?

Yes, these reasons and evidence are all convincing because most of the evidence came from first hand accounts of people who observed student behavior in different classroom types. The reasons also all have to do with students performing better in same-sex classroom environments. What person doesn't want students to get better grades and test scores in school? The reasons and evidence show that with same-sex education these things are possible.