Is retention better than social promotion for students?

[YES]

When I first called on "Brendan," a recent transfer to the district, to read, he refused.  His homework was copied from a friend if done at all, and he failed to comprehend a passage after fumbling over words when I finally got him to read aloud. Despite his third-grade reading level, Brendan was allowed into eighth grade. He was a product of social promotion. 

Social promotion has three detrimental effects on the education system.  It taxes both teachers and students.  Promoting a student into a higher level of English when he lacks basic reading skills, as was the case with Brendan, places undue burden on future teachers and students. Socially promoted students monopolize teacher attention, and other students' learning opportunities are limited as a result.

Second, it sends a message to students that they can move on to the next level even if they lack the required knowledge or effort. I once taught a summer school class with two particularly unruly students who were unfazed by the threat of being held back for failing. They knew they'd be eighth graders regardless of their performance. They were right, and became burdens to their new teachers (that oversight, fortunately, was later rectified).

Social promotion also distances schools from their goals of fulfilling No Child Left Behind standards. How can anybody expect a student with elementary math skills to perform proficiently on an eighth-grade standardized math exam?

Some argue that social promotion maintains the self-esteem of low-achieving students. I agree that humanism should be an important component in our teaching. But the "real world" has neither time nor regard for making sure every person feels worthwhile. Teachers have the responsibility to introduce, to some degree, the benefits of making the mark and the consequences of not doing so. Truth be told, I'd rather see Brendan held back in eighth than held back in life.

John Mohl teaches German and social studies at Cedarbrook Middle School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.

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[NO]

Each year, we all have a "Brendan" or two and we are frustrated and angry that he advanced with such evident skill deficiencies. But would Brendan be helped by retention, the traditional solution for struggling students?

Social promotion by itself is not a good practice. Retention does not, however, solve the problems of low-achieving students. Research shows that retained students do not improve their academic performance compared with similar counterparts who were promoted, and retained students struggle with self-esteem.

Social promotion isn't the answer if it means we send students on to the next grade ill-prepared for the workload. "Brendan" is failing, but so are we as educators if we don't provide the help he needs to keep up with his peers. So let's provide that help.

Is it time to review our centuries-old system of grouping students by age? Perhaps all students should be placed in multi-age classrooms. This arrangement would assist students who struggle to learn as quickly as their peers of the same age and would eliminate self-esteem issues caused by retention.

Another approach: Instead of retaining a student, why don't we promote struggling students with an individualized education plan (as we do for our special education students) to help them catch up to their peers? Most struggling students who are promoted do not meet the requirements for special education but they do need assistance that, unfortunately, we are not mandated to provide.

Maybe it's time to get serious about early intervention and provide funding for programs for struggling students before they reach middle and high school.

Our choices should not be just promoting students versus retaining them.

Passing struggling students to the next grade is a failure of the system if we don't have a plan to help them catch up. But retention isn't the answer, either.

Jennifer Slifer teaches sixth-grade language arts at Thomas Edison Magnet Middle School in Meriden, Connecticut.

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Voting Results

Should students have to take drug tests to participate in extracurricular activities?

The tally on the question in the January 2005 issue of NEA Today:

40% Yes  

60% No