Introduction:
Background:
Schools have continued facing significant trends in convergence of different learning and teaching practices across different national contexts and across different sector contexts dependent on that of education. The familiarity of teaching techniques to a given school and subsequently its classroom settings are based on the practices across different education sectors (Stabiner, 2003). This serves as a clear indication of the relative similarities of the challenges and demands that happen on a strategic academic performance among genders. This will prompts a similar response classroom design and teaching content delivery in general. In addition, the availability of excellent school curricula in spread out locations (more than 400 public schools offering single-sex classes) continues to ultimately generate imitative behavior among the students.
The same-sex school issue is an aspect of critical concern in articulating the desirable achievements and needs of the education system. One major challenge in the development of student’s learning skills the set curricula is the identification of the probable `best practices' with due regard to certain legal and societal contexts. This happens in the event that the responsibilities of various high profile consultancies spread and the diverse ideas and common approaches to different issues such as academic performance management take the lead. The education system’s organization structure and design of its function needs are clearly outlined based on the core learning activities, which are linked to high academic performance among students.
Identification of the problem and the significance of the problem:
The study aims at defining the interest among single-sex education as viable solutions in the middle school towards the improvement of academic achievement supported by great amounts of previously studied research and discoveries of different results working on different categories to address the academic performance gap.
Statement of the research question and/or hypotheses:
Can Single-Sex Education Improve Students' Academic Achievement in Middle School?
H-null – Single sex education cannot improve the academic achievement of students in Middle School
H-alt - Single sex education improves the academic achievement of students in Middle School
Purpose of the study
This study aims at establishing the impact of single sex schools on the overall academic performance of the students.
Operational definitions
The research will focus on the differences in perception of the students in various classroom environments, differences in the levels of self-esteem among students, differences in standardized test scores among students as well as the differences in disciplinary problems.
Methodology:
Participant or sample:
The respondents of the study will consist of 200 teachers from the public schools sector. The teachers will be expected to have teaching experiences exceeding 6 years of active teaching. The age range of the participants is 30 to 50 years of age. The respondents’ gender is evenly distributed between both female and male. The main issue in this case was that of unresponsiveness during the questionnaire administration. Random sampling will be used to select the participants of the study.
Method of collecting data:
Both primary and sources of data will be used in this research. With respect to the primary source of information, questionnaires will be used to collect and questionnaire will be used on teachers in the education sector. Other forms of primary data will be collected using critical focus group discussions. Such focus groups will make comparisons on the academic performances in the education sector. The research will also require quantitative data even though much focus will be on qualitative frameworks in which the collected data for the subsequent focus groups will provide comprehensive information on the possible effects of the academic performance fluctuations (Spielhagen, 2008). This way, the questionnaires seek to establish the level of understanding of an interviewee based on the current performance gaps in education among the students as well as crisis and fluctuations currently occurring in the education sector.
On the other hand, secondary data will be gathered from various peer reviewed and academic journals. The journals will be selected based on the credibility of the author. All of the above methods in data collection will be sequentially done as a way of ensuring that quality data can be collected through the study (Oliver, 2008). I will start with gathering data from the primary sources and complete the research with the consideration of secondary sources of data. This is important, as it will ensure that all tools in data collection are utilized through simultaneously handling the data collection process.
Administering the questionnaire:
The questionnaire designed for this study will contain up to sections that contain academic performance-related questions. The main sections include effective communication, problem solving and decision-making, operating skills, drive and commitment, structural acumen, flexibility, act with integrity, creativity, and change management, leadership and relationship management. The questionnaire will be based on different attributes which individuals in the education sector are expected to portray in their day-to-day operations.
Ethical issues that the project presents:
The research will not present any possible ethical issue. The main reason for this is that the data collection methods are essentially very open to further scrutiny and analysis. This study is going to rely heavily on the results of the research in place.
The role of the researcher:
The role of the researcher will be to come up with the questionnaire to be used. Identify the research population. Select the most appropriate sample to analyze. Collect data from the sample. Analyze the collected data to provide information. Write a final report that contains the results of the study.
Analysis of Data:
Responses from various questionnaires will be analyzed and the results will be evaluated per focus group to trace out patterns in the participants’ responses (Thomas, Brubaker & Murray, 2000). This is important because it is helpful in identifying whether or not the collected data is sufficient and that the presented topic is served. Such findings will be prepared on an official report written to address the topic. The report data is to be presented in form of graphs, score tables, tables and pie charts for the ultimate discourse of the same. I will use IBM SPSS (version 20) to analyze the collected data from the sustained questionnaires. The statistical methods are descriptive and will be used in drawing conclusions of the respondents’ frequency as well as amount of responses gathered based on the answer issued by respondents.
References:
Evertson C., Evertson C., Weinstein C., (2006) Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues. New York: Routledge
Oliver P., (2008) Writing Your Thesis. New York: SAGE
Schunk D., Meece J., (2012) Student Perceptions in the Classroom. New York: Routledge
Spielhagen F., (2008) Debating single-sex education: separate and equal? New York: Rowman & Littlefield Education
Stabiner K., (2003) All Girls: Single-Sex Education and Why It Matters. New York: Riverhead Books
Thomas R., Brubaker D., Murray R., (2000) Theses and Dissertations: A Guide to Planning, Research, and Writing. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group
