Yes

by James Dreyer

Created on: November 03, 2009

There comes a time in everyone's life when tough decisions have to be made; and there is no tougher decision to make than to agree to have a child repeat a grade in school. But at times, it is the right decision to make and it is quite appropriate to have the child retained in a grade for another year.

Most Americans put a very high emphasis on getting an education. We start our children to school in Early Childhood Programs and then move them up to Pre-Kindergarten and then to Kindergarten and then finally to First Grade. We have Head Start Programs and Early Learning Centers and most day care facilities now offer "education" as part of their services. We start our children to school at an early age and we expect them to do well and to keep up with their peers and to graduate at a precalculated time.

Well, it just doesn't always work that way.

Students today begin to feel the pressure to do well early on in their educational endeavors. Parents want them to do well and to be at the top of the class. Teachers want them to do well and to score high on standardized tests. Administrators want students to perform well to make "their school" look good. Peers try to outdo each other. It's a pressure cooker from day one!

It is great to have high expectations and we should continue to encourage our students to do their best, but we have to realize that not all students are going to be geniuses and ultimately there will be only one Valedictorian. When the end of the school year arrives we have to realize, too, that someone will be at the top of the class and someone will be at the bottom. We must also concede that there may be those students who need to repeat the grade again.

Devastating news for some.

Let's be honest. The stigma of retention stings most at the lower levels, grades 1- 8. This is due to the fact that in most schools moving up to the next grade level is determined by a cumulative average of 70 or better in the core subject areas. For example, in the third grade a student who has an average of 65 in English/Language Arts, Reading, and Math is considered to have failed third grade and will be expected to repeat that grade.

When this happens, everyone at school knows and it can be quite devastating, and is what prompted this debate. It is at this point that parents, and many times teachers, are more concerned about the child's "social well-being" rather than the ability of the child to be successful at the next grade level.

At the High School level, promotion to the next grade is based on credits earned. A credit is earned by passing a class (subject). It is possible for a student to fail a class (subject) and his or her classmates may never know; at least, until the student has to repeat the subject to earn the credit or attend summer school or some other form of credit recovery. This student still has the opportunity to graduate with his or her class.

Retention at the High School level, then, occurs "automatically"; at the Elementary and Junior High level, though, a conscious decision about retention must be made. It is a touch decision and a very important one. To send a child from one grade level to another without the proper skills to be successful at the higher grade level will be more detrimental than any stigma caused by repeating a grade. To send that child on will be setting him or her up for failure. Let's look at an example.

Before looking at our hypothetical scenario, it may be prudent to discuss various reasons that a child might "fail" the core subjects and thus be held back. (I don't like the term "held back" because it sounds as though the child is being physically restrained from making progress).

There are various reasons that a child might not pass a subject. It could be that he or she has no interest int he subject matter. It is possible that a learning disability is involved. Perhaps the child is the class clown and would rather entertain than learn, which is another subject worthy of debate. The child may have suffered an illness that caused an excessive number of absences; disharmony within the home may have created circumstances that prevented the child from focusing on the work; or lack of parental support of getting work done in a timely fashion may be the culprit. Immaturity may be an underlying cause of failure.

In our example, for whatever reason, the child has not performed satisfactorily at Grade 3. He or she has a core subject cumulative average of 67 and we must consider repeating the 3rd Grade. We realize that the by having the child retained he or she will not graduate with the "class". But, by retaining the child we help ensure that he or she will be better prepared to graduate with some class in the future. If we send the child to the 4th Grade without the necessary skills to be successful at the 4th Grade we are not doing him or her any favors. By sending the child to the next grade level with gaps in his or her education we are increasing the risk of increasing those gaps and therefore increase the possibility of failure again and again and again. We are putting the child at risk of dropping out simply because we were more concerned with the student's psyche than his or her education. It is important that we think long-term when considering a child's future.

The bottom line then is yes; at times it is very appropriate to have a child repeat a grade.

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