Cons Of Grade Retention

1775 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Parental involvement in education and its effects on student academic performance

Grade retention, also known as “being held back” or “repeating”, has been a controversy within the educational system. Grade retention is requiring a student who is in a given grade, return to that grade for further education, because they did not demonstrate a knowledge of the skills. Rather than follow social promotion traditions, schools should retain students who score low on state assessments, daily homework, and test scores, has little parental support, or shows a lack of maturity. The country will face many problems with sending ill-equipped students out of school without the necessary skills needed to survive. Along with many people, educators view that students need to be retained if they do not know the material. The retention process …show more content…

Principals argue that parent support is needed for the retention process to be successful. Parents need to agree to be there for their retained student and help them more with the subjects the child is struggling in. As with any student, retained or not, “parental support [attitude towards education and willingness to help] is an important component to student success” (Renaud 9). The parents of the student can also affect if the student is retained. Parents of students that are retained are more likely to have “lower IQ scores, lower educational levels, lower occupational levels, less commitment to parenting responsibilities, lower expectations of their children’s educational attainment, and less involvement in school” (Xia x). Parents need to realize that they are looked up to by a lot of students and not just their children, so parents need to be a supporting factor to the educational …show more content…

If students are promoted without knowing the information, “it send a message to students that they can get by without working hard” (Xia 2). If children work hard, they can achieve anything they set their mind to. Retention can allow a gain in multiple subjects in the repeat year. “Students who repeat the first or second grade can achieve meaningful gains,” in reading and math improvements (Cannon 10). Gains from the student, will show up within the repeated year and in some cases last up to high school years. The strongest gains will be seen the first three to four years after being retained.
The gains from retention all start with the threats and incentives to do better. Children most likely will work harder because they do not wish to be retained again. Parents will begin to watch the child’s progress more carefully. Parents will have threats and incentives to have their child catch up academically. The gains and incentives would all lead to an increase in student academic

Show More
Related

  • The Benefits of Year-Round Education

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    The founders of the American public school system had a dream that all of America’s youth would have the opportunity to attend school in the best way possible for the times. The educational leaders of today must take up the same mission of providing the best school system imaginable for our modern era. Yearlong education is the solution to many problems that plague teachers, students, and school budgets.

    Read More

  • Holding Back A Child Is Not The Answer

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    The child's development could and most likely be hindered and they would feel like an humiliation. The child would fall behind everyone else. Working on the previous years work, resulting in them falling behind. The child could become very confused because they would get the previous years work ...

    Read More

  • Diane Ravich Failing The Wrong Grades Summary

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    This practice of just promoting kids to higher grades when they truly are not prepared to move on is despicable, because it only hurts the student. Diane Ravitch in her article defines it as “social promotion – the endemic practice of moving students up to the next grade whether they have earned it or not—” (Paragraph 7). The kids that have been treated this way reach high school extremely ill- prepared and disadvantaged academically to their peers. This leads to students struggling and is one of the main reasons kid’s dropout of high school. These poor kids treated like packages on a conveyer belt are so far behind their peers that they truly struggle to keep up, and the teachers can only do so much to help them. It only becomes harder for the teachers if these kids do go to them and ask for help or special tutoring. High schools cannot be expected to have low drop out percentages if this is how the system feels towards

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Should Kids Have Recess?

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    If kids comprehend the subject moree, more than likely, their grades will go up. Overall, their mental function improves with regular fitness from

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Grade Inflation

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    While some secondary schools do not disregard all standards of teaching, it is becoming more and more common for educators to converge with the increase of unearned grades of students. When such occurrences as this happens, the “disengagement compact, a term coined from George Kuh, [where there is an] agreement between teachers and students, ‘I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone.’ ” (Allahar and Côté 2). This means that the teacher will not put in too much effort into teaching the students, so long as he/she does not have to mark as many papers or worksheets. This lack of effort from both groups is a main cause of grade inflation. Without anyone pushing students to the fullest extent of their comprehension in certain subjects, there will not be enough material for the educator...

    Read More

  • Importance Of Knowledge In Fahrenheit 451

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    This means that even students who do not understand the material or gain any knowledge from their classes can be easily passed onto the next grade level. An interview with a teacher from this school district expresses the disappointment the teachers have in the new system. “The students that struggle the entire year, the ones that fail every test, are still forced to move to the next grade level. They aren’t gaining the knowledge they need to move on and grow” states the concerned fifth grade elementary teacher. She continues to explain the stress teachers feel when they are pushing students further than their potential. Students are becoming less aware of the world around them; they don’t develop the knowledge they need to succeed. With such absence of knowledge, naïve citizens are allowing government control over their thoughts. A clear example of this is when teachers are pushing these students from grade to grade, they are simply only learning what the government and school districts want them to learn. This, in turn, affects our future leaders due to our democratic republican way of electing officials. These students grow up into adults who vote for our government and leaders based off the little knowledge they are provided throughout

    Read More

  • A Realistic Perspective On My Role As Assistant Principal

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ce they begin to see those small changed and realize that they can indeed have a positive effect on how the students view school it will motivate everyone, both the students and the faculty, to keep trying to narrow that gap that exists with the graduation rates.

    Read More

  • Student Retention Essay

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    There has been an abundance of research on how to retain students at the university and/or college level. I collected five articles that examine variables shown to correlate to student retention in secondary institutions. These studies use common factors to determine the significance of whether they are related to college retention. Most colleges and universities focus on recruitment rather than retaining students which also poses its own set of challenges. According to Tinto (1993) over 40% of the first-time college students drop out before the beginning of their second year. Retention is very important for universities and colleges for financial stability. Not only that, as noted by Fike (2008), the federal Higher Education Act may use graduation rates as a measure of institutional effectiveness. Retention is also very important to the students who want to have a positive college experience and who can achieve their goals and become successful members of society.

    Read More

  • Grade Retention Argument

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Grade Retention

    3003 Words  | 7 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Grouping Students in Mixed-abilities versus Same-abilities Classrooms

    389 Words  | 1 Pages

    Also, the academically stronger students can increase the incentive of the weaker students to work harder. Seeing the academically stronger students getting good results, the weaker students will probably follow their examples and start to work harder too.

    Read More

  • Parental Involvement in School Systems

    2215 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Many factors affect student performances, latest fad is no cure-all”(Weaver, Reg 2003). Although the involvement of parents in school systems doesn’t fix everything according to the quote, but it does help out a lot in mostly all situations. Elementary Schools First, the parental involvement in Elementary school systems is very important to the young school student. There are many different factors

    Read More

  • Parental Involvement in Education

    1842 Words  | 4 Pages

    Parent involvement affects all aspects of a child’s education. Parents must be involved as teachers, learners, supporters, and advocates of their child’s learning (Hopkings). Studies show that kids who know that their parents are involved and interested tend to take more responsibility for their own learning and behavior. Schoolwork and grades improve. Work habits improve. Less work is handed in late. Fewer referrals for behavior problems are made. Attendance increases, and fewer kids show up late for class (Hopkings). With all this information documented it shows the true importance of parent involvement in education. The more involved the parents are, the better off each child will be. So when you become a parent, get involved in your child’s education!

    Read More

  • Factors That Affect Student Motivation

    2973 Words  | 6 Pages

    Parent involvement is one of the most influential aspects of student motivation. The parents are the initial teachers of the child before the child goes to school and encounters education through a teacher. If a parent is completely engaged in the learning process with a child, there can be growth between the child and the parent simultaneously. The parents set an example for the child, so that the child understands that help is in the classroom and at home. Alma Wright, a first and second grade teacher, believes that parents in the classroom are a good way to stimulate children. She says, “Their active participation is a positive influence. The school is open for parents to share their talents and motivate their children” (Drew, Olds, and Olds, 1974, p. 71).

    Read More

  • Parent Teacher Relationship Essay

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the reading it brings up how most parents are only contacted by the school when it is something bad. This is not how it should be. Teachers should be sending home good news notes to the parents praising the students for their hard work in the class. Schools also need to be welcoming to the families and provide workshops to assist in the parent’s knowledge to allow them to help their children with their schoolwork. Having the parents involved and aware of the things that are going on in the classroom and the school are great ways to build that relationship and to enhance the student’s academic achievement and

    Read More

More about Cons Of Grade Retention

Open Document