Talk ** Write ** Learn

Single Gender

David Irwin

Language Development Opportunities LLC

Overview

Talk ** Write ** Learn(TWL) is a lesson design that increase ELLs’ access to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It uses the ELPA21 English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) as a pathway to make connections to the CCSS in Speaking & Listening and Writing. It begins with specific application of academic conversation, which leads students to write key elements of those conversations in organizers, and later in narrative or expository text.

Procedure

Objectives:

  • A Talk ** Write ** Learn lesson begins with a content objective that is based on the CCSS, and a language objective that is based on an ELPS standard.

Academic oral language:

  • Common input
  • Chunked
  • Specific language (function) skills

Written response:

  • At “chunk” breaks
  • Drafts
  • Final Draft
  • Presentation

Assessment:

  • Students use Conversation Counter to collect tally marks on the frequency of their use of the frames.
  • Student-made rubric: they assess the quantity and quality of their written responses.

ELPA21 English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)

The ELPA21 ELP Standards were adopted In December 2013 in a 10 state consortium. The states are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia. If you are not from one of those states, your state’s version of ELP standards will give you a similar roadmap into your state’s content standards, and can be used in the same way in the TLW lesson design.

An ELL can…

1 / constructmeaningfromoral presentationsandliterary andinformational textthroughgrade-appropriatelistening,reading,andviewing
2 / participateingrade-appropriateoralandwrittenexchanges ofinformation, ideas,andanalyses,respondingtopeer,audience,orreadercommentsand questions
3 / speakandwriteaboutgrade-appropriatecomplex literaryand informationaltextsandtopics
4 / constructgrade-appropriateoralandwrittenclaims and supportthemwith reasoning andevidence
5 / conductresearchandevaluateandcommunicatefindingstoanswer questionsorsolveproblems
6 / analyzeandcritiquethearguments ofothersorally andinwriting
7 / adaptlanguagechoicestopurpose,task,andaudiencewhenspeaking and writing
8 / determinethemeaningofwordsandphrasesinoral presentationsand literaryandinformationaltext
9 / createclearandcoherentgrade-appropriatespeechandtext
10 / makeaccurateuseof standardEnglishtocommunicateingrade- appropriatespeechandwriting

Procedure

Standards & Objectives

Standards / Combined Objectives
Content
CCSS S&L / CCSS S&L 8.3 Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced. / I will identify the claims presented for single-gender classrooms
by
Language:
ELPS / ELPS 4 constructgrade-appropriateoralandwrittenclaims and supportthemwith reasoning andevidence / forming or changing my own opinion about single gender classrooms and supporting it with evidence
and
Language:
CCSS Writing / CCSS W 8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument / writing an opinion piece that supports my claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence.
ELP.6-8.4. / By the end of each English language proficiency level, an ELL can . ..
Level1 / Level2 / Level3 / Level4 / Level5
An ELL can . ..
construct grade- appropriate oraland written claimsand support themwith reasoningand evidence . .. /
  • express an opinionabouta familiartopic.
/
  • construct a claim abouta familiartopic
  • give a reason tosupporttheclaim.
/
  • construct a claim abouta familiartopic
  • introduce thetopic
  • provideseveral supporting reasonsorfacts in a logicalorder
  • provide aconcludingstatement.
/
  • construct a claim abouta variety oftopics
  • introduce thetopic
  • provide sufficientreasonsor facts to supporttheclaim
  • provide aconcludingstatement.
/
  • construct a claim abouta variety oftopics
  • introduce thetopic
  • provide compellingand logically orderedreasons or facts thateffectivelysupport theclaim
  • provide aconcludingstatement.

The Frames

We will be using the conversation skills of elaborating and supporting an idea with evidence.Many versions of frames are available at

The frames we will use are:

In my opinion...

It seems to me that...

  • I want to add to your point that…
  • Another way to look at that is…
  • I respectfully disagree because…

▪For example, …

▪In the text (on page..) it said …

Conversation Skills

To be introduced over time:

  • Elaborate
  • Support an idea/opinion with examples/evidence
  • Paraphrase
  • Synthesize
  • “Propel the conversation”
  • Encourage
  • Tag on
  • Ask questions
  • Humor -- related to topic, appropriate to setting

Common Input

Students need something to talk about. What sill be the big input for this lesson, and how will it be delivered?

  • Student reading
  • Video
  • Read to students
  • Experiment
  • Presentation
  • Field trip
  • Other

Assessment (for student use)

Revise the Conversation Counter (last page) to match the conversation skills and frames you are using. Print and give to the scorekeeper.

The Chunks

What is your opening position (opinion) on this issue? / Discuss. Ask your partner to elaborate on what he/she says.
Write your response and what you might have learned from your partner:

Do Single-Sex Schools Improve the Education of Low-Income and Minority Students? An Investigation of California's Public Single-Gender Academies

LEA HUBBARD University of San Diego

AMANDA DATNOW University of Southern California

Anthropology and Education Quarterly,Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 115-131, ISSN 0161-7761, online ISSN 15481492. 2005

EXCERPT

The Needs of Students and the Response of Single-Sex Schooling

The students in this study generally were academically underachieving, and in some cases were two grade levels below the national average. Many had come from schools where they had been tracked into general education or remedial classes, and their teachers held low expectations for their success. As a result of these and other factors, some students had been chronically absent or had previously dropped out of school. They typically had low expectations for their own success.

Because California's experiment with public single-sex schools was short-lived, meaningful data on the students' academic outcomes is not available. We do know, however, that a major benefit of the arrangement was the academies' ability to create an academic environment that eliminated "distractions" from the opposite sex and thus allowed students to become more academically focused. Organizationally, the arrangement provided sociological benefits for the students who attended them. A teacher at Palm explained it this way:

For boys, I think the main benefit is that it really does reduce distractions. These are kids who have trouble focusing on schoolwork in the first place, but then when you have guys in the classroom, they usually have to maintain what I call the double image. Image number one is for their homeys, or their male friends, who they want to seem like they're cool, like they don't give a crap, nobody's gonna put them in check, as they say, nobody's gonna control them, so they have that kind of bravado to keep up. And then when you have girls, there's another image that you want to be cool for the girls, you know, you want to impress a girl, you want to go out with her. So when you put the kinds of kids that we deal with into a setting where one of those distractions is removed, you have a better chance at getting to them, at getting them to focus on their work.

What is the case for single gender classrooms for boys? / Discuss. Ask your partner to elaborate on what he/she says.
Write your response and what you might have learned from your partner:

A boy at Pine made a similar comment: "When there's girls in here, there's gonna be less learning and, you know, there's gonna be more distractions 'cause, look, when I'm sitting right here.., and a fine girl walks in, then I'm gonna turn around and start messing with them." Several teachers commented that the setting made certain actions unlikely. When boys did not have girls present, they felt less need to show off, act out, or engage in attention-getting behavior. Likewise, girls who did not have boys present did not have to vie for their attention. Instead of competing with each other, girls learned to work collaboratively, bond as friends, and become more focused on their academic work. Because boys and girls were separated during class time, they did not engage in the usual attention-getting antics prevalent in coeducational settings. They also explicitly recognized the fact that they did not experience harassment from the opposite sex in class. One girl at Pine explained, "Like, you know how you have to write a report ... [when there were] boys in there, like, we won't want to talk because they be laughing." "I feel it's more comfortable [not to have boys]," another female Pine student said, and then elaborated, "You can express what you feel and like if it's a girl situation, you can talk with girls without boys hearing your business." At the district level, administrators also noted the value of gender separation. In the Pine School District, for example, an administrator commented, "I [and their teachers] can talk to girls about being a mathematician, about being a scientist and they're not worried about that sounding boyish. Or I can talk to boys about being a nurse, or being a teacher without it sounding less masculine."

What is the case for single gender classrooms for girls? / Discuss. Ask your partner to elaborate on what he/she says.
Write your response and what you might have learned from your partner:

One major advantage gender separation offered the girls was the freedom to make decisions about their appearance without harassment from the boys. In the Palm academy, a girl explained, "You can come out like in the morning ... and you don't have to put like makeup on because we're girls and if there were guys here ... [we would be thinking], 'Oh my god, I can't go like this."' Another complained, "The guys [made] fun of me, the way I dress." She chose to wear baggy pants, a style that was "in" for boys, but not for girls. "You're supposed to wear these Daisy Duke shorts, you know," the girl said, adding, "They're little." The girls explained that when they dressed up, the boys would whistle at them. This, they said, was "annoying," and although they told the boys to "shut up," the girls felt embarrassed. "And then when you're walking, you know he's checking you out, you know he's staring at you." Although the girls agreed they wished they didn't care what the boys thought, they could "only ignore them for so long .... [The boys] kept doing it and you just can't get them to stop, you feel self-conscious and think-what's he gonna think about me?" The preoccupation with what the boys were thinking was a serious distraction in the coed setting of the schools the girls had attended the year before. For these young women and many others we interviewed, the single-sex setting was a safe haven that offered them a chance to concentrate on their academic work.

Conclusions and Implications

As is increasingly common, the needs of many of the students in our study had been inadequately met in their previous schools. The single-sex setting gave them an opportunity for another chance at a successful academic life. Freed from the distractions of the other gender, students were able to focus on their lessons in a new and more meaningful way. They also were able to have more intimate and open conversations with peers and teachers.

Students' positive experiences were not the sole result of separating students by gender, or of the extra support provided to them through generous state funding. Successful outcomes relied heavily on the special care offered by some of the teachers. Fortunately, some of the teachers at the academies believed it was their responsibility to provide emotional and moral guidance, as well as academic support.

These teachers' willingness to talk about "real life," providing advice about dating, marriage, and pregnancy, produced clear benefits for their struggling students.

In sum, we found that three important, interrelated conditions contributed to the positive experiences of low-income and minority students: the single-sex setting, financial support from the state, and the presence of caring, proactive teachers. School administrators supported this nontraditional curriculum, sought resources that would benefit the nontraditional student body, and allowed more open in-class discussions about the personal and practical, not merely the academic. Although the organizational setting was clearly helpful to the students, resources and caring teachers were integral components of successful outcomes.

If the single-sex arrangement is to significantly benefit students, it must be expanded to include a more comprehensive agenda of opportunity. Learning is a privilege enjoyed by those who are relatively unencumbered by life's problems. The students in this study were unable to attend to the complexities of algebra and biology because their lives were laden with anxiety and pain. Without a system of supports similar to that provided by these single-sex settings, and without the money provided by the grant, students may continue to falter, following pathways that lead to no education, no job, and no future.

What is the case for single gender classrooms? / Discuss. Ask your partner to elaborate on what he/she says.
Write your response and what you might have learned from your partner:

Study: Single-sex education offers no benefits

Researchers say science doesn’t support advocates’ assertions that boys and girls learn differently

February 5, 2014 3:45PM ET

byMarisa Taylor@marisahtaylor

Downloaded Mar 25, 2014

“Who’s not doing well are poorer kids, kids from minority groups, but that really is not related to whether they’re female or male,” said one expert.Morry Gash/AP

Single-sex schools do not provide any social or educational benefits over coeducational programs within the public school system, according to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Their findings dispel assertions from proponents of same-sex schools that boys and girls learn differently and must therefore be separated to reach their full potential.

The team of psychologists examined all available research on single-sex education published within the past seven years, which included 184 studies comprising 1.6 million students from kindergarten to 12thgrade in 21 different countries, and found no evidence to support proponents’ claims.

In their study, which appeared Monday in Psychological Bulletin, a journal published by the American Psychological Association, the psychologists said that students who attended single-sex schools weren’t any better off than peers who attended coed programs in terms of self-esteem or performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects.

Some education experts and parents haveargued in favor of single-sex programson the basis that boys are more dominating in classrooms and that separating kids by sex might enhance girls’ opportunities to excel in STEM subjects.

For example, Leonard Sax, founder and executive director of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE), has said that more graduates of all-girls schools will go on to major in hard sciences and math in college than those who graduate from coed schools.

But Janet Hyde, a professor of psychology and women’s studies and co-author of the study, said science doesn’t back that claim.

“There’s basically no difference,” she said. “What you see is that there’s one nondifference after another.”

Hyde said advocates of single-sex education often cite research studies that lack control groups, comparing, for example, a single-sex school within a privileged community with a coed school where students enjoy fewer advantages.

What does this article say the problems are with the research on single gender classrooms? / Discuss. Ask your partner to elaborate on what he/she says.
Write your response and what you might have learned from your partner:

“The two best predictors of kids’ school success are the parents’ education and the family income,” Hyde said. “It’s just a meaningless comparison” if you pit single-sex schools against coed schools that differ on those measures. When you control for factors like affluence and parental education, the studies showing the advantages of single-sex classrooms “just aren’t supported by science,” she said.

Single-sex education in public schools came about with the advent of theNo Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education in 2006rolled back a portion of Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in public education and guarantees equal federal funding for boys and girls across all education-related activities, in order to allow single-sex public schools and classrooms.

However, enrollment in single-sex education must be entirely voluntary, and school districts need to prove that there’s a compelling educational reason for creating a single-sex classroom or school.

More than 500 public schools in the U.S. offered single-sex classrooms or educational opportunities during the 2011–12 school year, with 116 of them entirely single-sex and the remainder with at least some coed opportunities alongside single-sex classes,according to NASSPE.

Opponents say single-sex classes and schools perpetuate gender stereotypes and that segregating kids by gender smacks of the kind of discrimination that — until Brown v. Board of Education struck down the practice in 1954 — allowed schools to segregate based on race.