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Single-sex classrooms have been around for generations, although they have been primarily limited to elite private schools where academics are revered and rewarded no matter what the student’s gender. Today, same-sex classes are beginning to crop up in public schools across the country, thanks to relaxed restrictions by the U.S. Department of Education. Is there a benefit to segregating children into classrooms according to gender? Both the opinions of educators – and the research supporting those opinions – appear to be widely mixed.

Are Single-Sex Classrooms Becoming More Prevalent?

According to the , there were approximately one dozen schools across the U.S. offering single-sex classrooms in 2002. Currently, around 500 public schools offer some sort of single-gender classroom options for students and their parents. The exponential growth of single-sex classrooms in recent years has to do with policy changes by the U.S. Department of Education, which relaxed the requirement to segregate students within public classrooms. The changes involved Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination of students in public schools, based on their gender.

In 2006, the Department of Education determined that same-sex classrooms should be allowed under Title IX since some children learn better in single-sex classrooms than coed environments. The law requires single-sex classroom options to be completely voluntary, and it requires schools to offer traditional coed classrooms at the same time. According to the , “If a single-sex classroom is provided, the

Students in the Highland Park School District in Michigan are consistently failing at one of the foundational skills necessary for a productive academic and professional life – the ability to read. With a concerning number of students within the district reading well below grade level, the ACLU has decided to take matters in its own hands. The organization has filed eight lawsuits against the school district and the state of Michigan on behalf of students and their parents. The charge? Failure to teach children to read.

This video explains reading levels.

Obscure Law Fuels Lawsuit Fire

According to the , the ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleges that the school district and the state have failed to do their job in ensuring students within the Highland Park School District can read at grade level. The lawsuit further asserts that although students are supposed to be provided with “special assistance” if they don’t make grade-level proficiency in grades four and seven, these students were not given any additional help to bring their reading skills up to par.

The lawsuit calls on an obscure law on the Michigan books known as the “right to read” provision. This law enacted by the state legislature in 1993 states, “A pupil who does not score satisfactorily on the 4^th or 7^th-grade MEAP reading test shall be

Homeschooling allows parents the freedom to instruct their children at home; however, sometimes, finding good lesson plans, ideas, and resources can be challenging. Check out these helpful sites to collect ideas and information about developing effective lesson plans for your children!

General Information on Lesson Plans

• provides a variety of educational materials that parents can adapt to use in their home school classroom. Lesson plans are included in this exceptional resource.
• provides parents with information about how to determine their child's learning style. Understanding your child's learning style will help parents create effective and meaningful lesson plans.
• helps parents understand different types of free curricula, as well as how to assess if they should use the curriculum with their children. This is a helpful article for parents who are new to homeschooling.
• , a resource provided by Donna Young, provides homeschooling parents with printable templates for creating lesson plans.
• is an article that will help parents determine if a free curriculum is appropriate and valuable to use when homeschooling their children.
• , an article from Let's Homeschool, provides parents with an understanding of what a lesson plan is and how to assess if a lesson plan is effective.

Grade School

• Dig In!, a lesson from BBC Schools, provides parents with a number of resources for teaching their children about farming

Sugar-laden drinks like soda and some fruit juices have been linked to a wide range of ills, from the current obesity epidemic to the rising incidence of type II diabetes and heart disease in this country. The soda habit is one that frequently begins during youth, particularly for children that have the sugary drinks readily available at home or at school. Fortunately, many schools are taking a stand against allowing these types of drinks on their campuses, with fewer soda options available at public schools, according to a recent study.

Research Methodology

Recent research conducted by the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Chicago at Illinois indicates that the availability of sugary beverages at the elementary school level is on the decline. The study, conducted by Lindsey Turner and Frank Chaloupka, used the guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) when analyzing their research. The IOM recommends that schools only offer students water, 100-percent juice and non-fat and 1-percent milk on their beverage menus, according to the .

Turner and Chaloupka’s research looked at five years of surveys from public elementary schools nationwide. According to , researchers were able to compile data from hundreds of schools between 2007 and 2011. The information was provided by principals and food service workers that recorded the specific types of beverages available to students and precisely where in the school those beverages were sold.

What the Numbers Show

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