Let’s discuss the effects and opinions on grade retention in schools. What are your thoughts and experiences with holding students back a grade
I am sick of social promotions. Kids today are passed year to year whether or not they are retaining information. We have high school students who read at a 2nd grade level and can’t do basic math.
Theodore said:
I am sick of social promotions. Kids today are passed year to year whether or not they are retaining information. We have high school students who read at a 2nd grade level and can’t do basic math.
Continuing this discussion, it seems clear that if a child has not grasped basic concepts after repeated attempts, there might be deeper issues at play, possibly needing intervention from specialized educational or social services, assuming resources are available.
@StudySage2
They need a larger desk?
Honestly, if a kid hasn’t picked up on basic info after two years there’s something else going on. And (if funding were adequate) it would be dealt with if it’s an academic-related issue, or punted to a (well-funded) social service agency.
@Dolph
Not always. SOME are just lazy because they are told an education isn’t important. I live in a VERY affluent town and a teacher. The kids who get it about education are our immigrants kids. The rich parents kids don’t care thinking mommy and daddy will support them forever.
They usually get the talk that mommy and daddy aren’t gonna support their lazy ass as an adult.
Theodore said:
I am sick of social promotions. Kids today are passed year to year whether or not they are retaining information. We have high school students who read at a 2nd grade level and can’t do basic math.
Teachers are passed on yr after year without their students learning.
I think the problem is that we’re fed the false choice of grade retention vs. no accountability/no intervention.
MysteryMaverick said:
I think the problem is that we’re fed the false choice of grade retention vs. no accountability/no intervention.
Exactly this. Frankly I think retention is the lazy choice. You need to be put in intense summer school and specialty classes for remediation during the school year.
I wasn’t retained but just had a late summer birthday. If I was retained I would have been driving as an 8th grader and a 20 year old senior.
I think there should be targeted grades you can retain and targeted grades you can’t. Sorta like benchmark years.
I would say 2nd, 5th, and 7th would be appropriate. Those are kinda benchmark years developmentally and curriculum wise in most places.
@Tracy
Alternatively, we could consider rolling separate classes into elementary. There might be less pressure to social promote if they’re just being held back in ELA or Math, for example.
@Tracy
This is a really sensible idea. Basically sets a ‘checkpoint’ that (somewhat) mitigates the idiocy of age-based grouping.
Candy said:
@Tracy
This is a really sensible idea. Basically sets a ‘checkpoint’ that (somewhat) mitigates the idiocy of age-based grouping.
Right. I had people trying to hold back a 1st grader one time because he was reading at the latter half of Kindergarten level. Kid was behind for sure, but a year and a half of growth in one year is possible. There really wasn’t any reason to hold him back at that point.
The curriculum changes from reading/phonics/decoding to comprehension in 3rd grade. Beyond 2nd grade, 3rd grade and up teachers don’t really know how to teach reading.
Essentially the goal is to minimize trauma in my mind. Research to my knowledge shows that retention isn’t really a high yield strategy anyway.
Candy said:
@Tracy
Especially when folks conflate ‘academic performance’ with ‘compliance.’
I’m having this problem right now with an academic program I am in currently (Post grad). It’s a rough time for me right now and in hindsight, this academic program was not a good fit.
Well, this one professor has been so unempathetic, I’ve been about ready to sue her. She keeps trying to drum me out of the program, when the issue isn’t the content I am making it’s the deadlines I am having a hard time keeping up with.
@Tracy
I’m sorry to hear you’re dealing with this. Presuming US, has your academic advisor been any help?
You might have some luck with the Dean of Students office as well, especially if you have any kind of documentation regarding your current situation - part of their job is to advocate on your behalf.
Unfortunately, most universities don’t make accommodations for deadlines in their policies, it’s the professor’s decision. Unless you can document that you’ve been treated unfairly (ie vastly different than other people in the course) legal action is likely fruitless.
Candy said:
@Tracy
Especially when folks conflate ‘academic performance’ with ‘compliance.’
Except some people’s post 12th grade jobs are based on compliance.
Put the cheerios on this shelf please.
Good job. Now fetch the grocery carts.
There is more than one type of job on this planet.
Some are knowledge-based and some are compliance-based and some are a combo of both.
Nothing wrong with teaching compliance and doing boring things we don’t want to do.