Social Promotion or The Gift of Time?
Tuesday July 1, 2008
Holding students back, flunking, repeating a grade... we all know the terms. But does holding a student back do more harm than good? Or is the practice of "social promotion" the real evil here?
The New York Times examines a program called The Gift of Time that puts an end to social promotion and offers perks such as tutoring and an extra field trip. The program follows a pared-down curriculum and spends an extra $2,000 per student.
But some education experts don't approve of this strategy, for a variety of reasons.
What are your thoughts on holding students back?
Comments
I am a firm believer in holding a child back from the start if he or she is not ready for kindergarten. An older child is so much more prepared emotionally for school than a younger one. Holding an older child back has to be considered much more carefully as there are stigmas attached and the child may suffer more emotional trauma if he can’t progress with his peers. I would hold back an older child only if it was very obvious he didn’t get any of the subject matter and would indeed benefit due to extra maturity or a more settled situation then in the previous year.
I am a long-time teacher and a certified Dyslexia Testing Specialist who also tutors with an Orton-Gillingham method. I have found that many students who are bright are also failing in school because they have not been identified as dyslexic. Once they are identified and receive proper turoing, they excel. Holding them back to more of the same teaching will not allow them to succeed. They need to be tutored properly.
I agree with the first comment, to an limited degree.
I think holding a child back before starting school ever is one thing. But after that, not much is to be gained.
Really, students shouldn’t be allowed to get to the point that they need to repeat a grade. Academics should follow the “stitch in time saves nine” in regards to a students progression.
Also, I agree with the second poster’s comments. Students should be properly diagnosised. Personal experience with my daughter, who is now 20:
She was diagnosised by the teacher as having ADD. I was supposed to put her on medication for it, but the school year ended shortly after being prescribed.
Well, I forgot about it by the time school started again, for about three months. She was with a new teacher, new students. And guess what? No medication needed; she had no problems with her schooling for the next two years.
The real problem?
The old teacher was too boring for her to pay attention to. Mostly did textbook/workbook stuff.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……..
I am a 7th grade English teacher, and it is very apparent that the students who should have been held back end up in a “no-man’s land.” Unless they are special education students, they are limited to AIS and differentiated instruction in the classroom. But to paraphrase a Simpsons episode, “You are going to teach me less material at a slower pace and expect me to catch up?”
These students become frustrated and disenchanted with school. When they are passed on (and at my school, they invariably are), this pattern continues throughout high school, many times until those students drop out.
We need to identify these students at a young age, hold back in the earlier years, where it is less traumatic, and provide more opportunity for learning so they can gain these necessary skills.
I am a 4th year teacher, and I am still torn over the holding-back debate. I have seen situations in which holding a student back would be absolutely pointless, as in the unmedicated ADHD child, the special ed. child, etc. I have also seen situations where the child has been evaluated for disabilities, IQ tested, and so forth, and no problems were found yet the child continued to perform poorly. I have had students who were extremely capable yet refused to put forth any effort; have they earned their promotion to the next grade? I have also had students who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, reading on a 1st grade level but have somehow made it to 5th grade. Should they continue to get promoted or placed when it’s obvious they still need remediation? Students get placed in the next grade often because they are too old to be in the same grade yet again; can’t have 13 year olds mingling with 9-10 year olds. It’s easy to say what teachers in particular and education in general “should” do for our students without taking into consideration all the other aspects that make educating kids difficult. Sure, say what we should do, but can you provide feasible suggestions on HOW to do what we should do?
I have to agree with Cindy. It is easy to make a hard and fast rule. It can be hard to deal with the results. I have seen students at a young age do well with the extra year. I have also seen children even at young ages who were aggressive and large for their age. They were a danger in the classroom to hold back. Social promotion was a necessity. You can’t put them out of the classroom until they have actually hurt somebody. I don’t think holding them back would have helped them and it could have endangered other kids.
I have had to hold students back because of various reasons at the upper elementary level; mainly because they were so far behind in content areas they could not pass state-mandated tests. Every one of these children’s parents REFUSED to allow their children to be held back in kinder/lst (matter of ethnic pride) and now face their children slowly falling apart (regardless of tutoring) educationally. These parents do not seem to value education (lack of monitoring their child’s academic work/progress) and its impact on their child’s future. Our teachers are tired and frustrated. We have excellent intervention programs, but most of the time, these children do not do their part and their parents treat us like “baby-sitters” and so they don’t want to be told their child is behind or reads on a 1st/2nd grade level in the 5th grade. We have been told to “do our teaching at school, but don’t send anything home (books to read, homework), it is our job to have their children learn during the school day only.”
I have been an educator for twenty-eight years. I have worked in regular ed., bilingual ed., special ed., 1st through 8th grade and adult ed.. I was a mentor and BTSA support teacher. I am also the mother of two children that I intentionally held back in first grade. They are extremely well-adjusted college educated and have excellent careers. They have strong self-images and confidence in their abilities. I am very proud of my two children. Both experienced a classroom where the teacher DID NOT do his and her job! I refused to allow the school system to just push my children through in hopes someday they would catch up or drop out. I held the district accountable. Holding back a child for the wrong reason is an injustice. Remember, it takes the family, the child and the teacher all working together to foster an ideal learning environment! We each have to be proactive.
I’m a third grade teacher who has dealt with students who come into my classroom at least two years behind. My school offers after school intervention classes and summer school. I even work with struggling students on my lunch break or after school for no extra compensation. I talk to parents, giving them tips on how they can help their child. The extra help is beneficial for some children, but not for all. I believe retention helps children, at the lower grade levels, but its effect for older students is negligible. Unfortunately, children who pass on without the skills needed to excel end up dropping out. We need to come up with ways to help our students children when retention is not an option.
Some parents need to get over their pride like I did. In the article it said that the mom didn’t want her son to be labeled and didn’t like the Gift in Time Program. Her son cannot do the basics in that case he needs help and he is “special”, he needs to be in the Gift of Time program. The boy can learn in the summer to catch up for the next year and probably can advance himself beyond. No need to hold him back a year in which he failed the first time in the same environment that he was in.
I homeschool my son ’cause public school wanted to label him a “Special Needs Child” and during the school year they wanted to put him in a special classroom. Got him tested and found out he was academically gifted.
So way your options, go for your gut feelings Moms ’cause you all really knows what’s
best:-)
Every child is different! Educators and Parents need to look at the situation and abilities of the child. My oldest son never had a problem in school except for ADD, teachers wanted to hold him back and I refused, he could do the work and when tested he qualified for the gifted program. But because of his inability to focus they wouldn’t put him in. (obviously the teachers didn’t want to deal with him). Then my youngest son was preparing for school, he was a late bloomer and I really felt he wasn’t ready emotionally! I discussed it with my doctor and he told us not to send him to school. So we waited a year before he started Kindergarten – it was the best decision ever. He still struggled with reading at times throughout his school years but ended up graduating with honors! If I hadn’t held him back he would have struggled more all his life. I now use these situations when evaluating and talking with parents about the students I have. We look at each one individually, I have had students held back with great results and others we took other routes (like learning support)! One size doesn’t fit all!
It all depends on the child. In BIE schools, students are allowed to enter kindergarten at 4 years of age. Sometimes, kids are totally burned out by that age – they have been in some type of school setting all of their lives and they are tired of competing for attention with so many. As a teacher for LOTS of years, with grown children, I would “do over” what I did with my oldest – very bright but immature. He wasn’t ready for kindergarten and was the youngest in his class. IQ – 140 or more, but lacking the tenacity of keeping it together in school, as well as some focusing problems. He wound up getting a GED – too much social stress. that contributed to his life problems, and I athink twice before I expect children to just be passed on. My youngest son went to Transition 1 and that really helped him. He has auditory learning difficulties, which never go away, but the confidence he gained from his social interactions helped him graduate on time after the T1 experience. He is now 25 years old and doing well. My daughter was spectacular in grade school, drowning in Jr. High, and went to an Open High School, where she did well. She has now been all over the world and holds a classified position as a Staff Sergeant in the Army, with a lovely family. Some children I have retained, always looking at the entire child, and it has been a blessing. I don’t think I ever retained anyone who did badly after that, but a few could have survived without it. After 2nd grade, unless they have missed the majority of the school year, it is useless. It should never be punitive, but only with the child in mind. Thinking back, should have waited a year to put my oldest in school and avoided life’s headaches for the choices made after.
would you say a child should be held back because of acedemics or maturity? My daughter is being retained not because her grades aren’t good but because the teachers say she lacks maturity and they worry that she will not be able to excel in the 6th grade. My daughter has ADHD, so I cant help but wonder is it that or lack of maturity. What if she doesn’t mature the following year, will she be held back again? Thanks