Reading passage 2 :

Co-ed versus single-sex schools: 'It's about more than academic outcomes'
Do all-boys’ schools breed hypermasculine behaviour? Are all-girl schools better for girls?
It was financial imperative that prompted the Armidale School to break with its more than
120-year tradition of teaching boys exclusively on its grounds in the New England tablelands
of New South Wales. The school wanted to grow. When consulting parents and community,
headmaster Murray Guest and the school insisted it would be introducing co-education
without changing culture and tradition. But they were wrong: culture did change.
“There is no doubt in my mind it has been a good change,” Guest says. “The social
environment in the school is a better one now than it was before.” In 2016 he did not
expect to see the strength of benefits of changing to co-ed as he has.
Macho cultures within boys’ schools have come under scrutiny this week, with video of
boys from elite Melbourne Catholic boys school St Kevin’s chorusing misogynistic chants on
a tram, prompting widespread condemnation from the public and the school’s headmaster,
who said the misogynistic culture at the school was worse than he thought.
It has sparked a revival of debate about whether such single-sex school environments breed
hypermasculine behaviours, and raises the question: do the social effects of educating boys
and girls together outweigh the widely touted academic gains of single-sex education?
What the research says
When the Armidale School began to scope the move towards co-education, it conducted a
literature review and found itself unable to conclude that either school structure was
inherently superior.
A study by the Australian Council for Education Research in 2017 found that, after
accounting for socioeconomic status, students in single-sex schools did outperform their co-
ed counterparts in reading and numeracy Naplan scores between grades 3 and 7, but added
that as the difference in achievement did not grow over those years “there appears to be
no value-add in numeracy achievement and even a decline in reading achievement over
time in single-sex schools compared to co-educational schools” even though single-sex
schools continued to outperform co-ed generally.
The case for girls only
Madhumitha Janagaraja is grateful for her time in single-sex education. She spent her early
years of high school in a single-sex school before moving to co-ed between years 10 and 12.
She says that her girls’ school gave her the confidence and freedom to pursue maths,
science and sport, pursuits she did not feel as supported in at her co-ed school.
“One of the disadvantages of co-ed schooling is that, even from a younger age, I find that
girls aren’t necessarily given the same opportunities as boys,” she says. “When girls are
allowed to learn and develop in their own space, they have an opportunity to try out things
that aren’t thought of as feminine or female strengths.”
Loren Bridge, the chief executive of the Alliance of Girls Schools Australia, says that there is
plenty of evidence to show academic, social and emotional benefits of single-sex schooling,
particularly for girls.
Should boys and girls be taught separately in our schools?
“The academics are definitely right in that just separating girls and boys won’t produce a
different result,” she says. “It’s much more than that.”
She says teachers, like everyone else, have implicit gender biases, and may, for instance,
subconsciously think that boys are better at maths, or encourage boys to take higher levels
of Stem subjects than a girl of the same ability.
A recent study from the University of Queensland found that girls leaving single-sex schools
were on average more confident than those leaving co-ed schools.
In a girls’ school, Bridge says, “There’s not the social pressure to be quiet in class. The
conversation becomes about learning, not being liked.
“They’re not putting on make-up to go to school. Their school time is about learning and
having that confidence. It ends in a better life outcome.”
She says the trend of single-sex schools, like the Armidale School, becoming co-ed is in fact
the movement of boys schools to co-ed. “There aren’t girls’ schools that go co-ed. It’s
basically a boys school with girls in it. And the girls are there to help socialise the boys.”
SOURCE : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/26/co-ed-
versus-single-sex-schools-its-about-more-than-academic-outcomes

RETRIEVE : 5/3/2021

WORD COUNT : 699 WORDS

Summary 2:
In the article “Co-ed versus single-sex schools: 'It's about more than academic outcomes ’’
the author first states the contradictory examples of the Armidale School in England and
Melbourne Catholic boys school; which then raise doubts about whether the social effect of
teaching both genders together override the widely praised academic gains of single-sex
education. The article also put forwards research conducted in 2017 which pointed out that
even though students in single-sex schools did outperform their co-ed counterparts in
reading and numeracy scores but generally that wasn’t a big difference. In the next part, the
article includes some noticeable pros and cons of both types of education. It said that when
girls are allowed to study on their own, they have a chance to discover new things which
were always thought to be unladylike. Moreover, girls graduating from single-sex schools
are on a higher level of confidence compared to those leaving mixed schools. On the other
hand, one disadvantage of co-ed schools is that they don’t offer equality. Teachers tended
to have gender bias towards boys, think that they are more intelligent at Maths, and have a
higher expectation for them in STEM subjects than a girl of the same ability. To conclude,
the article mentions the opinion of Loren Bridge, the chief executive of the Alliance of Girls
Schools Australia, says that the trend of single-sex schools turning into co-ed is actually the
shift of boys schools to co-ed, with the help of the girls to produce a better life outcome.
Vocabulary notes 2 :
N Vocabulary Pronounciation Meaning Meaning Sentences
o (English) (Vietnamese)
1 Imperative /ɪmˈper.ə.tɪv/ extremely cấp bách, khẩn It's imperative to act
important or thiết now before the
urgent problem gets really
serious
2 Exclusively /ɪkˈskluː.sɪv.li/ only dành riêng This discount is
available exclusively
to our VIP
customers.
3 Elite /iˈliːt/ belonging to tinh túy, ưu tú, Those are all elite
the richest, cao cấp goods
most
powerful,
best-
educated, or
best-trained
group in a
society
4 Misogynistic /mɪˌsɑː.dʒɪˈnɪs.tɪk/ showing Kỳ thị nữ giới I am amazed by
feelings of some of the
hating women misogynistic
or a belief attitudes in this
that men are country.
better than
women
5 Prompt /prɑːmpt/ to make Thúc giục, thúc
something đẩy
happen
6 Condemnation /ˌkɑːn.dəmˈneɪ.ʃən/ the act of sự chỉ trích, sự His action has
condemning chê trách, sự received several
something or lên án, sự quy
someone tội
7 Spark /spɑːrk/ to cause the Khơi mào, This proposal will
start of châm ngòi almost certainly
something, spark another
especially an countrywide debate
argument or about immigration.
fighting
8 Revival /rɪˈvaɪ.vəl/ the process of Sự trở lại,sự Recently, there has
becoming phục hưng, sự been some revival
more active phục hồi of interest in
or popular ancient music.
again
9 Tout /taʊt/ to repeatedly Chào hàng A local car
try to dealership was
persuade touting its services
people to buy on the radio.
your goods or
services
10 Scope /skoʊp/ to watch or Đánh giá, điều They'd scoped out
examine tra their market
something
carefully
11 Counterpart /ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ.pɑːrt/ a person or Đối tác The minister held
thing that has talks with his
the same counterpart
purpose as
another one
in a different
place or
organization
12 Numeracy /ˈnjuː.mə.rə.si/ the ability to Sự giỏi toán This course includes
understand basic skills of
and work with literacy and
numbers. numeracy
13 Outperform /ˌaʊt.pəˈfɔːm/ to perform Làm tốt hơn Technology stocks
better or do are outperforming
 better than the rest of the
someone or market.
something
14 Subconsciousl /ˌsʌbˈkɑːn.ʃəs.li/ something (thuộc) tiềm The image came to
y that comes thức him subconsciously
from the part
of your mind
that you
cannot
perceive or
control.