“It is our policy not to hold kids back unless there are exceptional circumstances.”
This is the standard line that Principals use nowadays when a teacher raises the topic of kids repeating grades.
Why isn’t it school policy? What is stopping schools from having the courage to recommend it?
EXCUSE 1: “There is a stigma about kids that are forced to repeat a year.”
Well, that stigma is partly generated by an educational system that refuses to think logically about this issue. When policy makers decide that some students would greatly benefit from redoing the year, they are assisting in breaking that stigma. When they decide that they would prefer letting thE child flounder in a year level they aren’t equipped for they are helping to maintain the stigma at the cost of progress.
EXCUSE 2: “A child’s confidence could be tarnished by making them repeat.”
Since when is a school content in letting students fail, looking out for their self-esteem? How is being miles apart from the rest of the class a confidence boost? On the contrary, a child can get a new lease on life when they repeat a year. They are given extra time to fill in the gaps and improve their basic skills.
EXCUSE 3:“But the parents would be devastated if we even raised it. They may even remove the child from the school. “
A school that makes its decisions based on whether or not the parents will remove their child, is deeply compromised and lacks integrity. The reason why parents may be devastated is because such an occurrence is rare. The reason why it is rare to recommend that a child repeat a year is because schools don’t do it enough. You have to break the cycle before such a measure gains wider acceptance.
Ultimately, a school should do what is right for the child, not what is popular or easy. That is why I congratulate the Indianapolis school system for its brave new policy:
A new statewide third grade reading test will be a new test developed by the same company that produces the ISTEP statewide exams. About a third of third grade students fail the English and language arts ISTEP test each year, but the new exam will be designed with the expectation that all students who can read will pass the test.
“This is so fundamental to a child’s success, I think we absolutely must draw a line in the sand,” said board member Jim Edwards.
Under provisions adopted by the board Tuesday, students who do not pass the test on the first try could attempt the test again during locally-offered summer school, and could move to fourth grade if they pass on that attempt. All students would have to pass the exam to advance unless they qualified for one of the plans’ three exemptions: one for special education students, one for English language learners and one for students that have been retained twice prior to fourth grade.
I realise that repeating a year has implications, and that sometimes the result of doing so will end up being negative. I simply feel that schools should be caring and supportive enough to do the right thing by the child and help replace stigmas with good decisions.
Topical Teaching 