Writing homework
bryansbb
researched_proposal_samples_ii.pdf
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Protect Your Children From Pregnancy
As a loving parent, there is nothing more important to you than protecting your child
from all the threats and harms they may face on their journey through life. Drugs, sex, and
violence are among the most worrisome issues that kids are forced to deal with as a result of
attending public schools. Your biggest priority when your bundle of joy makes the transition
from elementary school, to middle school, to high school is naturally
to limit their exposure to these high-risk aspects of society. As outrageous as it may seem, one of
the best ways to prevent your children from engaging in self-destructive behavior is to educate
them thoroughly on these issues. This idea is especially important when dealing with the issue of
teenage sex education about pregnancy. Informing your children of the risks and consequences
associated with sexual behavior is an imperative part of keeping them healthy and safe.
Unfortunately, many parents such as yourselves feel that having sex education taught in schools
is morally wrong and psychologically promotes promiscuity at early ages. The fact is, whether
teens choose to engage in sexual acts or not, knowledge on how to stay protected is absolutely
necessary. Your attempts to ban sex education in schools are threatening your child's safety and
health as well as the safety and health of every child who would be missing out on these
programs.
The idea to eliminate sex education from public schools statistically appears to be a poor
one. It is understandable that you would prefer to limit your child's exposure to sex education
because many studies have proven that such programs have promoted earlier participation in
sexual activity, namely among females (Oettinger 3). Studies also show, however, that these
educational programs tend to do more good than harm.
Pregnancy is something that the average teen wishes to postpone until a later time in life,
such as marriage. Unfortunately, however, teens sometimes lack the proper knowledge to
postpone pregnancy until they're really ready. One out of every eight of the almost four million
babies born in the United States were born to a woman of nineteen years old or younger (Rangel
1). The teen birth rate is about fifty-seven per thousand, or roughly six percent (Rangel 2). There
are an incredibly large number of teenaged women who become pregnant against their wishes. A
shockingly large number of these pregnancies result in abortions. To give you an idea, fifty
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percent of all pregnancies in America are unintended, and fifty percent of these unintended
pregnancies are terminated (Feldt 457). The remaining teenage pregnancies are followed through
with and result in babies being born to high school mothers who are almost always unmarried,
and who are unprepared to take responsibility for their own lives…let alone the lives of their
children. Results from the National Survey of Family Growth Cycle III reveal that as the number
of unplanned pregnancies increase, reported cases of child abuse and neglect increase as well.
The survey also states that these unplanned conceptions are almost always the result of either not
using birth control, or using birth control incorrectly or inconsistently. Unintended pregnancy
among teens results not merely because they choose to have sex, but because they are
uneducated of how to protect themselves against it. If teens were more aware of the importance
of choosing to either stay abstinent or to practice safe sex the proper way, fewer teens would be
forced to take on a roll they aren't prepared for. Would you rather your child remain oblivious to
an issue that is going to come up eventually anyway, or would you prefer your child to be
educated and informed on how to protect themselves when the time to do so comes along?
I think we all agree that teenagers deserve the right to protect themselves. What this
entails, however, is that teenagers also have the right to an education that will explain how to
protect themselves. Your mission is to eliminate programs that are changing lives of young
adults for the better. How many young mothers do you think wish they had known the
information that schools are trying to teach about various methods of contraception and safe sex?
These young mothers are the reason why your mission needs to end. Taking away sex education
in public schools is just as preposterous as taking away your child's right to protect his or herself.
I propose that you take a look at the big picture regarding teenage pregnancies. Look at all the
teenagers that became parents as a result of being uneducated about sex. Those young men and
women could have easily been your son or daughter.
Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General stated…"Ignorance is not bliss…Children
who know more, whose parents have taught them about these things, or if they've learned it at
school, are far less likely to engage in sexual activity. And if they do, they're far more likely to
be responsible, to use appropriate methods of contraception or control. It's the children who have
not yet had this kind of education who get in trouble" (Progressive). Don't let the children in
trouble be your own. Allow sex education programs to be taught in public schools.
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Works Cited
Feldt, Gloria. "Against Abortion? Family Planning Can Stop It." Vol. 90 Issue 17509 Aug
2006 <http://0- web16.epnet.com.library.pcc.edu/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+70E16B>.
Hamilton, Sabrina. "Students Picket In Support of Birth Control." 25 May 2006 2. 09 Aug
2006 <http://0-
web18.epnet.com.library.pcc.edu/DeliveryPrintSave.asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+70+70E 6B65>.
Health, Education, and Human Services Division, "Profile of Teenage Mothers."United States
General Accounting Office. 1998.
Oettinger, Gerald. "The Effects of Sex Education on Teen Sexual Activity and Teen
Pregnancy." Vol. 107, Issue 3606. 08 Aug 2006 <http://0-
web18.epnet.com.library.pcc.edu/DeliveryPrintSave.asp?tb=1&_ua=shn+10+F53 >.
"Teen Mothers: Selected Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Risk Factors." 27. 08 Aug
2006 <http://0-
web18.epnet.com.library.pcc.edu/DeliveryPrintSave.asp?tb=1&_ua=shn+10+F53 >.
Vargas, Christine. "The EPICC Quest for Prescription Contraceptive Insurance
Coverage."American Journal of Law & Medicine. 2002.
Zuravin, Susan. "Unplanned Pregnancies, Family Planning Problems, and Child
Maltreatment." Vol. 36, Issue 25. 09 Aug 2006 <http://0-
web18.epnet.com.library.pcc.edu/DeliveryPrintSave.asp?tb=1&_ua=shn+1+F5EF &>.
Single Sex Education: The Way Into Our Children’s Minds
Our children are growing up in a world where women and men are increasingly enjoying
equal opportunities in all aspects of life. A new standard is emerging, and if children are to
succeed in it, we must encourage their self-expression. Both boys and girls need to discover their
own strengths and talents to understand who they are and who they want to become. If parents
are truly interested in their children’s well-being, it is imperative that all children receive
support, encouragement and skills not based on gender stereotypes in order to make the most out
of new opportunities.
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Single-sex (from now on referred to as “SS”) public education has experienced an
increase in interest in the last five years from both educators and parents. The United States
Department of Education has promoted this style of learning by recently publishing new
guidelines governing SS classrooms, allowing public schools to offer SS classrooms and giving
communities more flexibility in offering additional choices to parents in the education of their
children (DoE). These regulations were put in place as a revision to the 1972 Title IX Education
Amendments which prohibited sex discrimination in public education programs or activities.
I hope to raise the knowledge of certain advantages of SS education by providing
research that proves the benefits of these environments and promotes their increase within
communities nationwide.
SS Education has been the subject of increasing interest among researchers, including
Carol Gilligan who received her PhD in social psychology from Harvard and spent over 30 years
there as a professor of gender studies (Wikipedia). In 1982, Dr. Gilligan authored a book that led
both educational and medical professionals to more closely examine what actually goes on in co-
ed classrooms. Throughout her research she discovered that girls think, interact, lead and make
decisions in a way that is distinctive both psychologically and developmentally. Schooling had
previously been modeled after a male’s way of learning, so the conclusion that girls in fact do
think differently was a major milestone for the public education system.
Although much early research on SS education was focused on girls, there also are
increasing amounts of studies being published that establish boys’ advantages within SS
environments. Because of the recent rise in the women’s movement, there is concern that boys
are being overlooked within our public school systems (Mendez). Whereas girls are now taught
that they can be scientists, mathematicians and surgeons, boys are hardly taught that it is
acceptable, much less remarkable, to be poets, artists or teachers. Stereotypes negatively affect
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boys just as much as they do girls, and the boys deserve a chance to be themselves without the
fear of punishment, or at the least, a raised eyebrow.
During the early stages of SS education research, most findings were based on
observation of typical co-ed classrooms. The introduction of MRI scans in the late 1980’s
promoted a drastic increase in brain research, which contributed greatly to the already social-
psychological research that had been done on SS educational environments (Rabinowicz 52).
Neurologists Reuwen and Anat Achiron published a study in 2001 that confirmed that sex
differences in the brain begin in the womb, and by 26 weeks into pregnancy, the fetus’ brain is
permanently transformed into a male or female brain, which can be discerned from a simple
ultrasound. Another research team compared brain tissue from both young boys and girls and
found that gender differences in the structure of the brain were obvious, especially in babies. The
most amazing thing about this study is that the differences are so dramatic that in photographs
taken by microscopes, one can easily see those differences with the naked eye (Cordero 47).
Neuroscientists at Harvard University published a study in which they tested the brain
activity of boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 17. The goal was to examine the
physiological ways emotion is processed within the brain. In younger children, emotional
activity was centered in the amygdala, the area of the brain where most emotion occurs, and not
connected to the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain most responsible for communication (Good
693). While a 7 year old may not be able to tell why he is sad, a 17 year old can go into detail
about it without much effort. As a child moves through adolescence, the brain activity associated
with emotion slowly moves up into the cerebral cortex, and eventually, emotion and
communication become intertwined within the brain. The odd thing is, this emotional activity
only meets the communication area in females. In males, the source of emotional stays fixed in
the amygdala, which makes it understandable that a 16 year old boy cannot very well talk about
his feelings (Schneider 231).
Virginia Tech researcher Harriet Hanlon found that some areas in the brain mature much
faster in boys. Specifically, some of the regions involved in mechanical reasoning, visual
targeting and spatial reasoning appeared to mature four to eight years earlier in boys. The parts
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that handle verbal fluency, handwriting and recognizing familiar faces matured several years
earlier in girls. Is it a stretch to believe that if there are physiological and biological differences
in the way each gender’s brains are wired, then maybe each gender should be taught differently
to make the most out of their differences? There have been no studies proving that one gender is
superior to the other regarding intelligence, simply differences in the way each sex learns.
A co-ed environment may also play a huge factor in the way our children learn. A boy at
a public high school is usually labeled a “nerd” or a “jock,” and hardly does one ever hear of the
star football player earning the rank of valedictorian. Adolescent gender expectations make it
difficult for boys and girls alike to find out who they are and what they want to do with their
lives. If a girl must be a pretty cheerleader to be well-liked, it is safe to assume that most girls
would try to fit into that mold during at least some of their school-aged years. It is difficult to
imagine learning in an environment where focusing on hair and make-up or intimidation and
machissimo are not required to get along and be successful. In single sex education, there are no
members of the opposite gender to make students lose focus or be insecure, which helps girls be
less intimidated and allows boys to do things they wouldn’t normally do for fear of being labeled
a “wuss.”
In addition to biological and environmental variations between the sexes, there are many
gender stereotypes that still exist. Single sex schools report everything from class sizes to test
scores to student’s happiness to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education
(NASSPE). Statistics show that all-girls schools are more likely to enroll in classes such as
computer science and physics, and participate in competitive sports. Compared to boys in co-ed
schools, public or private, boys in all-boys schools are more than twice as likely to study subjects
like foreign languages, art, music and drama (NASSPE).
All of these findings make it clear that single sex education can easily be far superior
than any other school environment. Granted, there are many factors needed to make a great
school- brilliant teachers, phenomenal faculty and a strong support base of parents and
community members. In order to promote the rise in same sex schools, parents and teachers must
recruit the school district’s administration board, and speak out about the advantages of such a
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wonderful yet simple system. The PTA is a great way to let voices be heard and to band people
together for the same cause. When a large community of parents begins fighting for the
children’s future, the education system will see that in order to educate them properly, they first
need to understand them.
Works Cited
"Single Sex vs. Coed: The Evidence." National Association For Single Sex Public Education.
2006. NASSPE. 14 Dec 2006 < http://www.singlesexschools.org/research-
singlesexvscoed.htm>.
"Carol Gilligan." Wikipedia.Org. 2006. 14 Dec 2006
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carol_gilligan>.
Cordero, Maria Elena, Valenzuela, Carlos, Torres, Rafael, And Rodriguez, Angel . "Sexual
Dimorphism In Number And Proportion Of Neurons In The Human Median Raphe Nucleus."
Developmental Brain Research 124(2000): 43-52.
Good, Catriona D., Johnsrude, Ingrid, Ashburner, John, Henson, Richard N. A., Friston, Karl,
And Frackowiak, Richard S. J. . "Cerebral Asymmetry And The Effects Of Sex And Handedness
On Brain Structure: A Voxel-Based Morphometric Analysis Of 465 Normal Adult Human
Brains." Neuroimage 14(2001): 685-700.
Hanlon, Harriet, Thatcher, Robert, And Cline, Margaret. "Gender Differences In The
Development Of Eeg Coherence In Normal Children." Developmental Neuropsychology
16(1999): 479-506.
Mendez, Teresa. "Separating The Sexes: A New Direction For Public Education? ." Christian
Science Monitor (2004) 14 Dec 2006 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0525/p11s02-
legn.html>.
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"Nondiscrimination On The Basis Of Sex In Education Programs Or Activities Receiving
Federal Financial Assistance; Final Rule." Federal Register. 25 Oct 2006. Department Of
Education. 15 Dec 2006 <http://www.ed.gov/legislation/fedregister/finrule/2006-
4/102506a.pdf>.
Rabinowicz, Theodore, Macdonald-Comber Petetot, Jean, Gartside, Peter, Sheyn, David, Sheyn,
Tony, And De Courten-Myers, Gabrielle. "Structure Of The Cerebral Cortex In Men And
Women ." Journal Of Neuropathology And Experimental Neurology 61(2002): 46-57.
Schneider, Frank, Habel, Ute, Et Al. "Gender Differences In Regional Cerebral Activity During
Sadness." Human Brain Mapping 9(2000): 226-238.
Full-day Kindergarten should be Available for all Students
As concerned and involved parents, along with members of the community we are asking
the Tigard-Tualatin school board to consider a vote to make full-day kindergarten free for the
four Title I elementary schools in our district. Currently, all ten of the elementary schools in the
Tigard-Tualatin district offer tuition based full-day kindergarten. For the 2007-2008 school year
the tuition was $2875, which is too expensive for many of the low-income families in our school
district. By charging a tuition full-day kindergarten benefits only the wealthy who can afford to
pay. Instead, by offering tuition free full-day kindergarten to the four Title I elementary schools,
you are helping to close the educational gap of the low-income students here in our area.
According to the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, students who come from low-
income families do not have the same kind of learning opportunities in their non-school hours
that other children have. The way the system is currently set, the students receiving the benefits
of full-day kindergarten are the ones who need it the least, which is why we are asking you to
consider offering free full-day kindergarten to the four Title I elementary schools in our school
district.
We know you are aware that there have been numerous studies done both nationally and
locally showing the importance of full-day kindergarten. Some of the findings from the National
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Association of the State Boards of Education include higher achievements in math and literacy
all the way up to the 3 rd
grade, better socialization skills, and higher self-esteem. Susan Castillo
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction who promotes full-day kindergarten has said,
“when a school district offers full-day kindergarten for low-income students approximately 90%
of these students meet grade level benchmarks.” David Douglas school district in Portland
recently switched to non-tuition full-day kindergarten and the number of at risk students meeting
benchmarks scores doubled. The four Title I elementary schools in our district have received
only a Satisfactory rating. If you offer full-day kindergarten at those schools, it can be a positive
factor to help the schools strive for an Exceptional rating.
We know that you understand the importance of the students’ achievement but knowing
how to fund the additional educational time is an important consideration. The Oregon
Department of Education came out with a report on June 25, 2004 that states the estimate of
going to full-day kindergarten from half-day kindergarten would have an estimated rise of
$1,477 per student for the school year using the Quality Education Model. We are proposing that
the schools use their Title I funding to support the majority of the cost, just like what has been
done at the Beaverton School District for the past several years and has been proven successful.
According to website of the Oregon Department of Education all of the Title I schools in the
Beaverton school district are meeting state requirements and have received a rating of Strong to
Exceptional for the 2005-2006 school year report card. By using the Title I funds to offer full-
day kindergarten to the Title I elementary schools, the board is helping to make sure all the
Tigard-Tualatin students are given the same opportunities for early academic success.
We know that our school district spends more per student than the state average. The
majority of the Title I funds have been used to build a strong elementary literacy program that
has a high success rate. Just recently, the University of Oregon has made a large contribution to
support this program. In addition, we know some of the Title I funds have been used for the
inclusion program that places special education students in the regular classroom. We feel that
by using the majority of the Title I funds, since the other programs have received grants, and
instead investing it in full-day kindergarten at the same elementary schools that have the highest
literacy concerns, the students will continue to benefit. The success will be apparent in our
school district’s state assessment scores. As Susan Castillo said, “by not funding full-day
kindergarten, the only loser will be the schoolchildren of Oregon.”
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Another issue is of concern is the need of hiring more teachers. If you decide to switch
the Title I elementary schools to full-day kindergarten, an additional teacher would need to be
hired at each of the four elementary schools. According to the Tigard-Tualatin school district
website, the starting salary for a teacher is a little over $31,000 a year. A successful way to cover
most of this expense is by using the funds that are no longer required to pay First Students, the
independent bus company, for the transfer of the two separate time slots of kindergarten students.
By having just a full-day kindergarten class, it eliminates the need for the late morning dropout
of the AM kindergarten students and the afternoon pickup of the PM kindergarten students. Each
elementary school requires at least five buses to transport the 70-80 kindergarten students. In
2004, our school district spent $339 per student just on bus transportation. With over 12,000
students in our school district, that is over $4 million a school year! Also not included in the
transportation cost is the staffing that is required to oversee the successful transporting of the
students. It takes at least five staff members to ensure all the students are safely on the right bus
home. Estimates by other schools throughout the nation, such as Danbury, CT which switched to
full-day kindergarten have listed transportation savings of over $90,000 a school year. Our
school district spends more on transportation than the state average therefore, by switching four
elementary schools to full-day kindergarten and placing these students on the same bus schedule
as the other elementary grade students our district should notice significant savings.
There are other alternatives for funding the difference in cost from other school districts
who have adopted a similar program which include blending federal and general funds, or even
receiving special grants from the community members. Just as our elementary literacy program
has received grants from the University of Oregon. The city of Lake Oswego has a foundation
created just by donations from local businesses and citizens who care about maintaining the high
quality of education their school district offers. Great schools not only benefit the students, but
the city as well. Real estate agent Debbie Childs with Windermere stated that most of her buyers
who are parents always want to live in an area with a good school district, which is why a city
like Lake Oswego is so popular in the Portland metro area. Our schools have the possibility to
receive outside funding to support the public education if others see that our school district
provides outstanding education by giving all our students the right start, not just the ones who
can afford it. When the community sees our elementary schools scoring higher on assessment
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tests, more will want to help support our dynamic school district. The start is by you voting to
make full-day kindergarten available to our Title I elementary schools.
We know this is not an easy decision for the board to make, but all the evidence from the
numerous studies to the statistics from various school districts both near and far prove that full
day tuition free kindergarten for our four Title I schools will benefit our students by closing the
educational gap created from poverty. Let’s give these students the opportunity to be as great as
they are capable of being. In addition, full-day kindergarten will raise the Tigard-Tualatin school
district ratings, making our city even more attractive to perspective homebuyers. Our city can
compete with nearby Lake Oswego boasting a great school district if we work together and make
public education a top priority in our city.
Work Cited
Childs, Debbie. Personal Interview. 17 August 2007.
Evans, Gene. “Superintendent Castillo Testifies in Favor of Full-Day Kindergarten.” Oregon
Department of Education. 13 February, 2007. 14 August, 2007.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/news/releases/default.aspx?yr=2007&kw=&rid=534
Hutson, Nancy G. “Committee to Discuss Full-Day Kindergarten.” 9 October 2006.
NewsTimesLive.com. 22 August 2007.
<http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1017190&ref=Our>
Lake Oswego School District Foundation. 2007. 17 August 2007.
http://www.losdfoundation.org/
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. “Full Day Kindergarten: Exploring an Option
for Extended Learning.” 20 December, 2002. 13 August 2007.
<http://www.nwrel.org/request/dec2002/whatdoes.html>
Oregon Department of Education. “AYP and Report Cards Download”. 1998-2007.
Version 2.0.0.7. 16 August 2007.
<http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx>
Tigard-Tualatin School District. “Everything you ever wanted to know about Tigard-
Tualatin Schools.” 2007. 20 August 2007.
<http://www.ttsd.k12.or.us/community/ploneexfile.2006-02-
22.8567287249/attachment_download/file>
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