For me, the most significant posting was made by one of our active contributors, Marcy. By discussing the high likelihood that students retained in the middle grades (namely, the 8th grade) would far surpass their classmates in the developmental sense. She described students who would be left behind in the 8th grade as possibly shaving daily, dating, driving, etc., all the while taking classes with much younger students. Does that mean I completely agree with social promotion? Certainly not. Social promotion alone does not guarantee the student's academic success. Rather, along with that plan to socially promote, during the first quarter of that students' high school career, they should be referred to and seen by the school's Student Support Team (SST). It is during this time that this interdisciplinary team of educators can collaborate to determine which interventions need to be implemented. For a student who is placed in high school, the question is not will they need interventions/support, the question is how much and to what degree will they need interventions/support? The fact that a student has been placed rather than academically promoted should be a "red flag" on his/her cumulative folder. In other words, it should be a no-brainer that this student will require more assistance than most in order to succeed. So to debate social promotion versus retention in an either or, black white, one or the other way does not speak to the complexity of this issue. As we have seen, there is much gray area and room for individual advocacy on the part of students, parents, teachers, and staff when determining which route is best for the student. And isn't that supposed to be what we are doing? Figuring out what is best for each student?
Friday, April 11, 2008
Significant Postings-Ashley
For me, the most significant posting was made by one of our active contributors, Marcy. By discussing the high likelihood that students retained in the middle grades (namely, the 8th grade) would far surpass their classmates in the developmental sense. She described students who would be left behind in the 8th grade as possibly shaving daily, dating, driving, etc., all the while taking classes with much younger students. Does that mean I completely agree with social promotion? Certainly not. Social promotion alone does not guarantee the student's academic success. Rather, along with that plan to socially promote, during the first quarter of that students' high school career, they should be referred to and seen by the school's Student Support Team (SST). It is during this time that this interdisciplinary team of educators can collaborate to determine which interventions need to be implemented. For a student who is placed in high school, the question is not will they need interventions/support, the question is how much and to what degree will they need interventions/support? The fact that a student has been placed rather than academically promoted should be a "red flag" on his/her cumulative folder. In other words, it should be a no-brainer that this student will require more assistance than most in order to succeed. So to debate social promotion versus retention in an either or, black white, one or the other way does not speak to the complexity of this issue. As we have seen, there is much gray area and room for individual advocacy on the part of students, parents, teachers, and staff when determining which route is best for the student. And isn't that supposed to be what we are doing? Figuring out what is best for each student?
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I think that the topic of social promotion and retention is a roller-coaster ride that awaits any school. Student retention appears to be a lightning rod issue that brings, teachers, parents, academics and even politicians together. The stakes are extremely high for all concerned and there are many complicated questions involved such as - Does retention work? For whom? How do you justify a program that may benefit a school system overall, but also introduces potentially life-altering challenges to individual students who are held back? What do you do with students who are held back? How do you pay for it all? How do you measure its success? And, if the policy does work, shouldn’t we see an eventual reduction in retention rates?
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