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Grade retention in the united states
Grade retention in the united states
Negatives on grade retention
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Grade retention seems like a reasonable solution to a serious problem. A child is significantly behind their peers, maybe they are emotionally immature, or they cannot quite grasp what is being taught to them. The first thing to do is make sure the child does not have a learning disability, after that, it is determined that since this child is falling so far behind there is no other option than to hold them back a grade. This will ensure that they have time to catch up with their classmates and move on to have a successful school career. Schools implement this every year, despite the research proving how unsuccessful grade retention is. There is no clear cut way to help a struggling child. Children learn in such diverse ways. It is a challenge to help someone falling behind, it takes time, effort and research to realize what is going to be effective for a struggling student. Grade retention is harmful to the student, it negatively impacts the child’s academics, it leads to early dropout, their self-esteem suffers, and it is not a cost effective way to help a child succeed. …show more content…
Since it is not an easy decision to make the child’s parents, school instructors and counselors are all involved in the process. Conversely, there is also social promotion. Social promotion is the practice of moving a child ahead a grade even if they aren’t necessarily ready to be advanced to the next grade, the thought process their being that they will have time to catch up with the other students. Both of these practices are flawed in different ways, but what seems to be more detrimental to the student is grade retention. Jimerson (2001b) is quoted as saying that “grade retention suggests that it is not likely to be effective in remediating academic failure and/or behavioral
In the op-ed, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” Stuart Rojstaczer addresses the concern of grade inflation and its effects on students. Rojstaczer uses several different methods to prove his point of view to the reader. Rojstaczer links grade inflation to the sinking quality of education, as well as the rise of college alcoholics. While this op-ed does a satisfactory job appealing to the reader on a person-person basis, many of Rojstaczer’s main claims do not hold any scholarly evidence. This analysis over “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” will discuss whether Rojstaczer has written this editorial solely to convince readers of his opinion, or does Rojstaczer present a credible claim in higher education’s grade inflation.
The practice of delaying a child’s enrollment in kindergarten until age 6 instead of the standard enrollment age of 5 is known as pre-primary academic redshirting. Originally the practice of holding back a child for a year from entering kindergarten in order to provide them an athletic advantage due to advanced physical maturity, the practice of redshirting has developed an emphasis on academic maturity, as redshirting allows students to enter kindergarten having an advantage over their younger and less mature peers in terms of academic preparedness. Redshirting for academic purposes has been on the rise in American schools, as nearly 17% of children in 2008 were admitted to kindergarten at age 6, whereas only 9% of children were admitted to kindergarten at age 6 back in 1993. The sudden increase in redshirting creates significant age and ability gaps in kindergarten classes, providing redshirted children with a better chance of academic success than their younger peers due to more maturity. However, redshirting is not
How could holding back a student in a grade longer than average help them? Would not it just make them feel as if they were slower than others? Which could make them develop into something they're not.Academic Achievement of kids who are retained for advancing to the next grades poorer that, that of peers who are promoted. ( http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/health/659-repeating-a-grade.gs?page=all ) Deciding to hold back a student for not successfully completing their grade could result in many problems, such as : low self - esteem, hinderance in the child's development, and the child could become an issue.
The sixth-grade year is critical in terms of providing the foundation for a student’s middle school career (Clark, 2007). If students have problems transitioning to middle school, the outcome for students may be negative (Ruiz, 2005). Akos, Eccles, and Midgley (1993) state that the timing of these events in a student’s life can lead to lower motivation, lower self-efficacy, lower standardized test scores, higher rates of absenteeism, and behavioral issues. Developmentally responsive schools may be the key to alleviating the problems of young adolescents' school transition (Mullins, Emmett R.; Irvin,
That is highly disturbing that a child has to suffer through something as humiliating as that. Our public system does not encourage academic growth, it hampers it. Over the years a lot of money has been put into trying to fix our public school systems, but there has not been any improvement. Our public school system is dysfunctional and
Giving students a grade that they have not earned hinders the youth’s future educational success. A number of schools are no longer giving a grade of zero on assignments, tests, and exams completed by students. While other school districts continue to give students the grade that is adequate for the work they have done or have not completed. Giving students the grade that equals their work is designed to show students where they need to improve. Many school boards want to stop giving out zeros for work that hasn’t been turned in and give a grade that rages around the “D” area keeping children from falling behind in their classes. By allowing student to pass through the school system the educational board is raising their graduation and success
Tracking leads to many disparities between students and possibly feelings of inferiority. “By tracking, schools send a message that some children are gifted, bright, and academic and that others are average, slow, or vocational” (Oakes, 1986, 34). By beginning these tracking practices in elementary school, it “leads to differences in classroom experiences that ted to increase differences among students in achievement, attitudes and interests” (Oakes, 1986, 34). In the case of “N,” these feelings of inferiority may follow her for her whole life. By tracking students, schools are essentially setting students up for either success or failure. By beginning these practices at such a young age, schools are setting the path that these students will likely be on for the rest of their lives as it is very unlikely for students to rise in these programs. It is more likely that they will be lowered into a lesser program. As said by Oakes, “few students…can defy the expectations” (Oakes, 1986, 34). Unfortunately, it is unlikely that “N” will be in a gifted program again after her performance this year, and it is unlikely that she will rise to that level again. However, by beginning to reform curriculums and practices, this may
Students should be paid for having good grades. According to Psychology Today, the United States has fallen behind other nations in education. In addition to this, approximately one in four students in the U.S. drops out of school before graduation. The main reason for this is that students have little to no motivation. Students are either bored with school, or they are distracted by the other things that go on in their lives such as sports, jobs, friends and their own family life.
High school can be tough for many teenagers. Some students may feel as if the classes they are taking are boring or the material being taught will not help them later on in life. These students begin to not show up for class and then their grades start lowering drastically. Next, these students come up with the idea that dropping out is the easiest and fastest way to escape all the stress that is caused by academics. However, they need to start looking at the bigger picture and asking themselves if quitting school is going to help them reach their personal goals. Most people want to live a life filled with laughter and have the least amount of trouble as possible. Dropping out of high school will not bring joy to anyone, it will only affect the dropout and also our society in a negative way.
Hindering a student’s performance with a bad grade in the middle of the year can make them give up for the rest of the year. Once a student has received a bad grade they might lose faith in their academic ability. By giving up a student does not reflect their academic ability and their bad grades are not based on what they learned.
Formally, grade retention is defined as the practice of requiring a student who has been in a given grade level for a full school year to return at that level for a subsequent year (Jackson, 1975). Unofficially, the practice is employed as a tool to enhance the academic or developmental growth for students who are unable to meet the curriculum requirements due to a variety of reasons. These reasons can include decreased cognitive functioning, physical immaturity, social-emotional difficulties and failure to pass standardized assessments. A child may be considered for retention if he has poor academic skills, is small in stature, is the youngest in the class, has moved frequently, has been absent repeatedly, does poorly on prescreening assessments or has limited English-language skills (Robertson, 1997). Additionally, the typical profile of a retained child is more likely to reveal an elementary school-aged student who is a black or Hispanic male with a late birthday, developmental delay, attentional problems, low socioeconomic status, single-parent household with a parent who either does not or cannot intervene on behalf of the child (Robertson, 1997; Mattison, 2000). Also seen in retained children are the predictive health factors of hearing and speech impairments, low birth weight, enuresis and exposure to cigarette smoke within the home (Byrd...
Numerous parents struggle in deciding if they should to enroll their child into school as soon as possible, when the child becomes able to go to mandated schooling, or whether they should wait a year or two to send their child to school. For many parents, there is a clear age at which they should enroll their child into school, which is mandated by state law. However, a great number of parents want to know when their child is ready and cognitively able to begin school. These parents are not heavily focused upon the age of their child, but their intellectual abilities and whether their children will be ready to start school by the current mandated schooling age. Therefore, there is much controversy over whether children are being put into school at too early of an age, not early enough, or if there should be other
him. Once his parents find out they may ground him for a while. He may
A statement from the Huffington Post states, “From a very young age, we are told the importance of getting good grades. Especially in high school, we are told time and time again that our grades affect what college we will get into. While grades are extremely important, people often forget about the importance of learning, not just getting good grades. There is a difference between the grade received in a course and the amount of learning that took place in the course.” Parents and institutions should teach the importance of learning. The society around the upbringing of students emphasizes getting good grades as apposed to getting every detail and aspect mastered. School priorities should be reevaluated and changed for future students
...ke school something that the students can look back on and think that it was a meaningful time where they learned a lot about life instead of a time where they thought they would have a break down because they got a low score on a test. School should be a time to make mistakes in a safe environment that they can learn from, not a place that they are petrified to make a mistake for fear of retribution on their grade cards. Its time to change the school system to save future students from becoming stress crazed and to let them know that there is more to this world than a grade card and in the long run it is a very small fraction of life.