Category: Final Web Essay 2013

Ed Studies Junior Research Plan

Name: Savahna Reuben

Major(s)/Concentration: Education – Single-sex Education

Last updated:

1) What is your proposed research question, and how is it significant to educational studies, broadly defined?

In which ways does private, single-sex education influence students’ academic and social interactions? How do students develop under the certain academic condition of single-sex education? These questions relate to Educational studies by examining how students personally develop as individuals, and how, with that individualism, they find a place in society.

2) What courses, experiences, and/or readings inspired you to choose this question?

I have had many experiences with single-sex education—namely, my involvement in an all girls’ school, Kindergarten through 12^th grade. This experience, in contrast with the co-educational summer courses I took at Brown University and Amherst College the summer going into my freshman year of High School, proved to have personal benefits.

These brief experiences in two-week courses proved that a transition into a co-education learning environment would not be tough for me, and the social aspects would not pose as a distraction. I was able to focus on my work, as well as the social aspects that adolescent male/female interactions foster. This led me to question my future in a co-educational environment, and contemplate whether or not my single-sex education had led me to the way I was thriving in my new learning environment. Then, the transition to Trinity College, a co-educational school, proved to have the same results. Though I was skeptical of how I would interact with males in a secondary academic setting, the tools I was given through single-sex education allowed me to flourish in a co-educational environment.

The courses I have taken that inspired me to choose this topic were:

EDUC 315: Higher Ed in America

This course taught me to question the higher education system, and what factors played into getting into college. It personally peaked my interest as to whether or not single sex education affected the college process for students.

INTS-234-01-F13: Gender and Education

This course severely peaked my interest in terms of single –sex education because it questioned many aspects of how girls and boys interact, ranging from social interactions to personal interactions in the academic setting.

Readings that inspired me to explore this topic were:

A systematic review of Single-Sex vs. Coeducational Schooling, which concludes that though some research shows that single-sec and coeducational schools have no different effects, there is some research that argues that single-sex schools are more productive and prove to be a better learning environment for students than coeducational schools.

Mael, Fred, Alex Alonso, Doug Gibson, Kelly Rogers, and Mark Smith. “Single-Sex Versus Coeducational Schooling: A Systematic Review.” Rev. of U.S. Department of Education. POLICY AND PROGRAM STUDIES SERVICE n.d.: n. pag. Www.ed.gov. 2005. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. <http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/other/single-sex/single-sex.pdf>.

“Fast Girls” is an article that investigates negative body images for girls within schools, who feel trapped to fit into the male archetype.

White, Emily, “The Cruelty of Girls,” in Fast Girls. Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut, pp. 132-154, Scribner (2002).

3) What prior methods training do you have, and what primary sources and methods will you use to answer this question?

Training: EDUC: 200 Analyzing Schools

I will be using observation in order to conduct an interaction analysis on various relationships within an academic setting. These interactions will be student to student and teacher to student.

Training: EDUC 315: Higher Ed in America, EDUC 303: Becoming Citizens, EDUC 308: Cities, Suburbs, and Schools

I am going to use qualitative research and conduct interviews. By conducting interviews with teachers, students, and parents, I will inquire about the personal opinions of why single-sex education is where they stand.

Questions I hope to find answers to through my research are as follows:

Do the parents believe that single-sex education gives their students a competitive edge? If so, then why?

Have Grace Academy students chosen this single-sex environment themselves, or was it chosen for them by their parents or a mentor?

How do the teachers at Grace academy feel about single-sex education? Do they believe that its methods allow for higher achievement or greater social assimilation?

What is “higher achievement” according to Grace Academy standards?  How does Grace Academy measure the successfulness of their students? Does it correlate just with test scores?

4) Does your plan include research with human subjects?

Yes, I will be involved with students, teachers and parents at the Grace Academy in Hartford, CT. The Grace Academy is a private, all-girls’ school.

5) Does your research plan require access to a school or organization?

Yes. I will be observing Grace Academy Students and their interactions. In order to observe in this environment, I have contacted Tamar McFarlane (’12) who is a teacher employed at Grace Academy. I am still waiting for contact back.

Saundra Foster, mother of Trevor Foster, sent her son to Bloomfield High School because he was not getting the education he needed while he was enrolled in the Hartford school system. “[Trevor] got into so much trouble with the Hartford school system or with Hartford High in general”. According to Saundra, her son was a “good kid” and he wanted to be in school while performing well, however the education system in Hartford did not allow his learning to develop and was ultimately frustrated. Because of such problems, Saundra added in an interview with the Hartford Courant, that she would fight any action that would remove her son from Bloomfield High School. In 1985, Bloomfield High School, home to roughly 2,000 students, became the center of a legal controversy that drew national as well as local attention to a violation of the law that had never been seen before (Drury A1).

Bloomfield, Connecticut is a suburb located in the Greater Hartford area that was considered an option where minority parents could send their children to school without having to worry about educational problems within the school district. Although its high school as well had a high African American population, it was still thought to be a better option of education than the high schools in the Hartford Public School District.

Four Hartford residents Saundra Foster, Claude Johnson, Elizabeth Brown and Norma Wright (Windsor) were charged with first degree larceny for illegally enrolling their children into Bloomfield High School. Pursuing criminal sanctions in a school residence case had been a first for the town of Bloomfield, therefore, not just the police, but educators and community leaders were much involved. Larceny, a felony that carried a maximum of five years jail time as well as a $5000 fine was placed in front of the parents who just wanted their children to receive a better education. Also, they wanted their children to have the opportunity for a fair chance at getting an equal education as those students who were of higher socioeconomic statuses. “How does one steal a free education” (Mendoza, Saunders)  is the question Att.M. Donald Cardwell rose when trying to figure out why the Bloomfield police were warranting arrests for parents of non-resident students.

Stealing an Education

In March of 1985, nearly 100 students from other towns attended Bloomfield High School, which at the time, was illegal because they weren’t actual residents. By sending their children to live with relatives that were taxpayers of Bloomfield, complaints and concerns were made by mostly white parents and school board members, which urged the Board of Education to disenroll students essentially for not belonging. However, Dorothy H. Billington, the only African American on the Bloomfield Board of Education revealed that the [white] community of Bloomfield over exaggerated the estimates of so many “illegal students” in the school system, and “there were some [whites] who felt extremely uncomfortable being in the minority” (Drury A12).

Sen. Frank Barrows suggested that the Bloomfield Board of Education were not actually the ones who were in control, it was the police. In his interview with the WVIT Channel 30 news he states, “What’s going on it seems like the police department, whenever they want to make an arrest, they just go out and say, ‘Well here’s a person,’ and they’ll arrest them” (Mendoza, Saunders). This violation of the law did not seem to be much of a big issue to the school, yet the police department intended to make clear that nonresidents would not be welcome to attend school in Bloomfield. Ultimately, was this a race related case? Out of the many students that were “jumping the line” how come only four families were singled out? Was it because they were the only ones from Hartford?

Hartford School System Inferior

Saundra Foster’s personal feelings were that Hartford Public schools were geared toward students with special needs; such institutions like Hartford Public and Weaver High School were difficult to receive the proper education by students who had the ability and actually wanted to learn (Mendoza, Saunders). “Is Hartford providing its youth with a good education?”  is a question that came up a lot during this case. Although Amanda Cruz, an HPHS student argued that within an urban setting you can achieve (Mendoza, Saunders), the Hartford parents who enrolled their children into Bloomfield High School agreed that their city was doing a poor job. “There is a school of thought that Hartford school system is inferior to a school system such as Bloomfield’s” (Mendoza, Saunders). Was it because the teachers did not want to put time and energy into students who were of a low socioeconomic status? Connecticut education commissioner Gerald Terozzi answered that question referring to the problem as an economic issue. As race actually being an outlying factor, he stated, “the children of poor need so many more resources, support service, so much more attention… and until the state recognizes, we will continue to have that problem” (Mendoza, Saunders).

The same day the arrest warrants were issued to the parents was the same day the students all withdrew from school. “The warrant applications charge the parents with third-degree larceny for accepting $4,001 worth of free education” which was eighth highest price in the state for pupil expenditure (Drury A1). The Bloomfield Town Council’s attempt to resolve the case resulted in all charges being dropped from the parents in less than 3 months after the students withdrew from school. The resolution of the case was “Designed to develop a system that would deter non-resident enrollments and head off problems before criminal prosecution because necessary” (Drury A1). For the future the Board of Education was required to thoroughly check for non-resident enrollments. According to Mayor David A. Baram, “What happened in Bloomfield will not happen again” (Drury A16).

Residency Verification

Each year students who live along the border of suburban towns are enrolled into schools that aren’t in their district. Since 2002 Connecticut school systems have been “cracking down” because, although parents want the best for their children, “[schools] have an obligation to [their] taxpayers to ensure that only resident children are attending” (Weizel). Initially, the school boards feel bad by not admitting or expelling non-resident students, but they are only doing what is considered fair. Each year the cost to educate a student is increasing, ranging from $8000-$11000, which is covered by the city’s taxpayers. All educators in the State of Connecticut agree that it is hard to turn a student away, but once a student is out of the district they have to find a new school.

Just a year ago Tanya McDowell of Bridgeport was sentenced to 5 years in jail for enrolling her son into kindergarten at a better school in Norwalk. As she promised that she would fight for her son’s education, she stated, “Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament? I have no regrets seeking a better education for him” (Tepfer). Her lawyer Darnell Crosland then goes on to say, “You shouldn’t be arrested for stealing a free education. It’s just wrong” (Smith). It still unsure if the general public is mindful of the law but violations of residency requirements continue to usually represent students from areas with lower-rated schools crossing into communities with more highly rated school systems. Overall, despite the risks to potential consequences, parents still send their children across school district lines in search of a better education.

Work Cited

Drury, Dave. “Bloomfield Council Takes Up Residence Issue.” The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 23 Apr. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

Drury, Dave. “Bloomfield Cracking Down on Non-Residents in Schools.” The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 21 Mar. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

Drury, Dave. “Three Bloomfield High Students Withdraw as Residence Disputed.” The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 27 Mar. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

Drury, Dave, and Karl Schoenberger. “Charges Against Parents in Bloomfield School Case Dropped: Reaction Mixed; Civil Suit Possible.” The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 6 June 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

Graham Smith. “Homeless Mother Who Sent Six-Year-Old Son to Better School in the Wrong Town Jailed for Five Years.” Mail Online. N. p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.

Tepfer, Daniel. “Tanya McDowell Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison.” Connecticut Post. N. p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.

William Mendoza and Anita Ford Saunders, “Jumping the Line,” The Public File (Hartford, CT: Viacom Broadcasting, Inc., WVIT Channel 30, August 31, 1985) 7 Oct. 2013.

Weizel, Richard. “RESIDENCY CRACKDOWN DISTRICTS HIRE INVESTIGATORS TO VERIFY WHERE STUDENTS LIVE: [THIRD Edition].” Boston Globe 3 Feb. 2002 : B.7. Print. 13 Oct. 2013.

In my revisions to the CTHistory essay looked back at Clarissa’s comments and basically just followed what she said to make my essay better. I struggled a bit because I actually forgot what I had originally wrote the first time I posted so I went back to read my first draft along with the comments from the class, then the 2nd with comments from Clarissa. The main change that I made was trying to make a stronger conclusion. After reading comments from my first draft placed in GDocs I saw that Karen mentioned that a stronger conclusion to go along with stats or a story today on a school residency case would make my essay more compelling. With other minor grammar corrections I believe that the final outcome of this essay will be a lot better