by Josh Byrom

Created on: January 08, 2010

This has been a heated debate for years. Many educators, and parents, would rather have their students be left back, instead of allowing them to continue on to the next grade level without mastering the skills from that grade level, first. It is often shown that the minority voice becomes the majority belief over time. The question is, are we really concerned with the child's education, or are we concerned with hurrying them through school so they can become a functional, productive member of society?

One must look at this through many perspectives. The first perspective to look at is the educator's perspective. Each grade level builds upon the previous grade, and then teaches new subject matter that involves previously applied concepts. If a child is passed to the next grade level, but never learned the concepts taught, how can they truly learn any new material? Many of us have heard of Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy. The students may be able to learn the new concepts, but they will not be able to use the higher order of thinking in order to truly understand what they learned.

To continue, let us look at a second perspective; the perspective of the students themselves. Despite what educators think, most students want to succeed in school. The problem is, too many teachers want to pass on the students without adequately educating them. For the elementary level, students should not be expected to go through all six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. However, they should be able to go through the first three (knowledge, comprehension, and application). (Bloom, 2009) By the Secondary level of education, however, students should be able to, mentally, use all six levels; the last three being analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. (Bloom, 2009)

Part of the reason for passing on students is that it is difficult to determine when students have mastered a concept. There are percentages given, but to truly tell if students have mastered a concept, at the Elementary level, is if they are able to move up to the third level of Bloom's Taxonomy. (Bloom, 2009) By the Secondary level, students should be passed on if they are able to apply all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy to the subject. (Bloom, 2009)

For those who do not know about Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy, here is an explanation. Bloom's Taxonomy involves six levels of thinking; the lowest being knowledge, and the highest being evaluation. (Bloom, 2009) All students, when learning new material, are going to start off on the level of knowledge. Eventually, they should reach the level of evaluation. 

To sum this all up, students should only be held back if they have clearly not been able to reach a certain level of understanding in subject matter. Also, teachers should not pass on students who are not ready for the next grade level. If they are unable to learn concepts from one grade, they will not be able to fully grasp concepts in higher grade levels that pull from previously learned concepts.

Resource:

"Benjamin Bloom and the Taxonomy of Learning." The Gold Scales. 2009. Tormod Kinnes, Web. 7 Jan 2010. <http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html>.

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