I found the most significant posting to our blog to be a response by Marcy concerning individualized practices. She questioned why a school system should invest in individualized approaches to retention and social promotion. This comment was made in response to my own comment that maybe schools should make their decisions based on individual cases. Marcy’s comment states that she just doesn’t think this is feasible.
My feeling is that all people do not necessarily learn in the same manner, and some students may be dealing with disabilities that call for accommodations which can lead to lower test scores. Hence for example, I don’t personally feel as though you can automatically say that a child that has borderline scores on the CRCT should automatically be retained if they do not meet the minimum requirement without first looking at their individual challenges. I think that schools should strongly consider individual cases. There are a host of scenarios both academic and personal which could affect the outcomes. I think that ultimately, teachers, parents, administrators, etc. should consider individual cases because there may be extenuating circumstances affecting the outcome.
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2 comments:
Kimberly, as counselors we see first hand that student issues cannot be compartmentalized. So I completely understand your point about various issues (academic, personal, social, etc.) placing a strain upon students and making it more difficult for them to achieve. This is all the more reason why an individualized approach, as it relates to determining promotion/retention, is certainly more favorable than a cookie cutter one.
I simply think that it is best to look at each case individually. I have seen many cases where a kid tries and struggles, but still does not meet certain criteria. I think there is a very clear difference between this kid and the kid that simply refuses to work and goofs off during class. Even in the face of the greatest teacher, a child who has been in school for a number of years, but still does not display the aptitude to pass the CRCT should be tested for other problems such as learning disabilities. For this student, to be retained any number of times and put right back in a classroom with 20 other students is still not going to change their performance or bring about resolution. That is why I think that it is so important to look at each case on an individual basis.
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