Put yourself into the shoes of an innocent third-grade student trying your hardest to learn in school and please the adults in your life. You do well in most subjects but struggle with reading. Now you're being told you must repeat the third-grade because you scored 'not proficient' on the reading portion of the MEAP, despite doing your very best. Your friends will all move on to the fourth grade. Now you’ll have to relearn everything in the third grade because you struggled with reading, and only reading. How much sense does that make? The Michigan Legislature is debating on whether to join around 20 other states in instituting a mandatory retention policy to third graders who are not proficient in reading. This would hold back just under one-third of Michigan third grade students; totaling over 36,000. Michigan third grade students who are not proficient in reading should absolutely not be held back in third grade; especially in the way that the House Bill 5111 would implement this retention. This is because of multiple reasons: There is a massive amount of evidence showing retention does not work and contributes to major problems in students lives; grade retention wastes money; HB 5111 has many major issues that haven’t been changed, and finally, alternate methods to help non-proficient readers would help much more than a mandatory retention policy.
Holding a student back a grade has a host of negative affects on the student’s life. Most serious, is the chance of dropping out of high school, massively increases when a child is retained. A study by Melissa Roderick in 1994 shows how retention influences dropout rates. The percentage of students who were retained once in kindergarden to eighth grade was about 21% and of those ...
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...uld be used better. These include other options such as summer school, before-school and after-school programs, extra help during the school day or early intervention in preschool through second grade. All of these methods would be better than a spearheaded, blanket approach, such as that seen in the mandatory retention policy of HB 5111.
Overall, the way that non-proficient refers in Michigan would be reined is a major problem. It is full of many problems, not to mention that retention is shown not to work and have a negative impact on students’ lives. Because of the disastrous issues that come with this policy it should not be implemented. Instead an alternate form of intervention should happen. We need early and targeted intervention, to prevent kids from falling behind in the first place, not forcing them too stay behind when the education system fails them.
An outdated education system is the largest problem Michigan faces because it affects not only the present, but also the future of the state. Important issues cannot be solved, nor policies created to remedy them, if the people attempting to solve them are not equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to make informed decisions. The state cannot run itself, let alone the nation as a whole, if its’ people are uneducated. The Constitution, the very basis of our government, relies heavily on the assumption that citizens of the United States are able to make knowledgeable and well-reasoned decisions, the types of which cannot be made when a person does not receive a proper education. This proper education is unattainable when low educational funding occurs. Lowering educational funding leads to lower standardized test scores, lack of resources, and an overall poorer education (Roy 2003). Even with these results educational funding has consistently been put upon the chopping block at all levels of government. Governor Rick Snyder’s budget cuts $470 per pupil for the 2012 fiscal year, while promising only small incentives to be added when re-balancing the budget in 2013 (Resmovits 2012). Snyder’s cuts in education stand in sharp contrast to the budget and policy passed in 1994, by then Governor John Engler. Engler, along with the House and Senate, created Proposal A. This policy increased funding to all levels of education, reduced the large funding gap between poorer and richer school districts, and opened schools of choice. Proposal A was largely effective in its’ objectives, but was unable to maintain the projected budget needed to maintain efficiency due to the recession, and Michigan laws requiring education cuts when school ...
Education is the foundation of American society. It empowers the youth of America to become the successful leaders this country needs for the future. Education has been one of America’s top priorities since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. Now, education is controlled by the No Child Left Behind Act, which was launched in January 8, 2002. This act was passed with intentions from the government to provide Americans with a more superior education system. However, The No Child Left Behind Act carried many flaws which were left unseen to a vast majority of the public. This act limited American students by not allowing them to demonstrate their full academic potentials while proceeding in school. While the act was still fairly fresh, there was already evidence to prove that it had already gotten off to a bad beginning. For the crucial math and science courses, statistics showed minimal improvements which had begun around the time period in which the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. The act was also supported by a number of educators who voiced themselves by testifying against having the right to teach at their own free will. Teachers across America claimed that because of this new act, they felt a constant heaviness upon their shoulders from the state government to “Teach the test.”
In order to determine whether or not the No Child Left Behind Act is doing its job successfully and efficiently, one must first understand exactly what is involved in the act. This act is the most recent renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Similar to laws in the past, this particular act has been revised and added to numerous times to make sure it encompasses everything necessary for the education system and the students. The No Child Left B...
Public schools across the nation are being labeled as low performing schools at a very fast rate. Low performing schools (LPS) are schools that do not meet the required standards that state officials set each year for all schools. These standards may include a certain graduation rate, certain goals for standardize testing, and a limited number of behavior referrals. The majority of public schools do not meet these standards. They often struggle with high dropout rates, low standardize test scores, low graduation rates, and disciplinary problems. These problems can truly hinder the future of these schools and the students attending them, so they are placed on the academically unacceptable list; low performing schools list. Although those problems standout they are forming from smaller problems within the schools. Many of the schools on the low performing list lack in the quality and quantity of teachers and books. This causes students not to meet the expected standards on standardize tests. Low test scores can lead to high dropout rates and low graduation rates. Another small problem they face is overcrowded classrooms which bring along the huge number of discipline problems. It can add to the low test scores because teachers are often interrupted with discipline problems while trying to teach large classes. Students who have trouble grasping the concepts that the teacher is teaching and who are constantly involved in disciplinary cases often dropout of LPS. When public schools lose students the state officials cutback on the schools’ finances that they receive to fund the school.
Since the No Child Left Behind Act has come into effect, it has caused some concerns with teachers and parents alike on how well it is working for the students. There have been issues to be addressed and instead been overlooked. Because in “Is No Child Left Behind Effective For All Students?” Parents Don’t Think So, a school who fails to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four or more years is considered under corrective action and the state board must make serious changes to the school. Randolph and Wilson-Younger, (Oct. 22, 2012). Our government has offered states the chance to waive requirements but the states have to make specific reforms in exchange for flexibility. During the first round of waivers offered, 11 states applied. The states had to fill out applications. Each state must put in an application for a waiver and if a state receives a wavier it will last for two years and then they can reapply. These waivers are needed because the No Child Left Behind is broken. The laws can identify which schools that are in need of improvement based on their achievement targets. The law prescribes interventions but the interventions are not working as well as they could be. Lawmakers have proposed to move a bill to the Senate or House floor. However, the Republicans had p...
The last few years have seen an increase of attention concerning academic accountability and the emphasis on social promotion. The U. S. Department of Education (1999) reported, “Neither social promotion or holding kids back without help is a successful strategy for improving learning” (p. 4). This push for change has set into motion the question, does retention in the early years account for substantial academic development? “Efficiency of instruction is important for all children and critical for children at risk for reading failure, who may have more to learn in less time than their peers” (Musti-Rao & Cartledge, 2007, p.13). The “wait-to-fail” approach, give students no special interventions until after a substantial period of academic failure, is not a viable option for students. The Response to Intervention Model helps teachers anticipate potential learning problems for early interventions (Musti- Rao & Cartledge, 2007, p. 3). There is a plethora of research on these topics as school districts and teachers consider the well-being including educational success of their students. The researcher, reviewed current literature, which addressed the topics of school retention and reading intervention in early elementary school.
The need for basic literacy skills is vital in order for our nation to continue to operate successfully. With approximately 5 million students, graduating below the National Standard for Literacy and unable to read, we must take a look at the curriculum and teaching techniques to assess whether the current systems need to be revised to better assure ALL students are successful. (Adolescent Literacy: A Policy Research Belief p. 1) The issue begins first with the definition of “Literacy”, and the fact that there are several aspects of literacy which are not currently included in the curriculum. Another issue is the “old” standards which are in place do not support the level of diversity which is now seen in many school systems. Then comes the issue of funding for schools and many schools in better neighborhoods obtain the highest level of private, and public funding and therefore are able to provide the higher level of education. However, in “The Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) Act”, Senator Patty Murray states, “Research also shows that low income children are less likely to have access to high quality, literacy rich environments. These same children perform 40% lower on assessments of literacy achievement even before they start kindergarten.” (Murray) So, whose responsibility is it to ensure the success of the upcoming generations? Will the Federal Government step in to create a better system for the generations to come? There are quite a few solutions which have been used by Teachers, but with such an “old” system in place the issues of diversity, financial demand, inflexibility of the curriculum to assist individual students, classroom sizes increasing on a yearly basis, pressure to achieve sp...
As argued in “Making the Grade,” the No Child Left Behind Act seeks to reduce gaps in testing areas that have allowed kids to advance without having high-quality skills in subjects such as math and reading. By discovering what kids are slipping through the gaps in testing, it will be easier for schools to aid these students and make sure they are not left behind. Other main goals of this act include to find teachers who are not well educated in the subjects they are currently teaching, and to locate those schools who fail t...
In conclusion, the initial intentions of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) were to close the achievement gap between low achieving students and schools and their counterparts; but have fallen short in many important aspects along the way. Teachers have become de-sensitized to the reasons they initially desired to be educators and have lost their vision of how to implement instruction due to standards of NCLB and the consequences for not meeting those mandated goals. Likewise, students must perform, many times, above their level in order to be labeled “adequate” by the federal government and their schools. In some cases, there is a disproportionate burden placed on schools, teachers, and students, all for the sake of what is federally deemed as average achievement.
The downfall of the US Public Education system is very concerning to me. A number of children are leaving the school system without the proper tools for them to be successful and productive. Over the years, schools have been victims of budget cuts; therefore, they are no longer able to supply children with sufficient and basic needs for success. There are several factors other than budget cuts that contribute to young adults leaving school without the proper tools for success.
How does dropping out of high school affects students’ lives in the future? Students’ dropping out has become a crisis, President Obama said, “It’s time for all of us to come together parents and students, principals, and teachers, business leaders and elected officials to end America’s dropout crisis” (“ President Obama”). There are 7 thousand students’ that drop out of high school that adds up to about 1.2 million each year, wouldn’t it be nice to drop that number and help kids stay in school instead of dropping out of high school(“ President Obama”). Students’ shouldn’t drop out of high school because they couldn’t go to college, couldn’t hold down a job, and would struggle making minimum wage for the rest of their life.
Rumberger, Russell. “Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It” (Dec 19, 2012)
The situation in which we grow up in our families can affect dropout rates immensely. In “Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research”, Rumberger and Lim conclude that students that go through their parents’ divorce or a f...
Education is the key to success and there are multiple ways to boost a student’s confidence while attending high school to enhance a better future for his/herself. It is our job as parents and faculty to keep the students engaged and aware of the repercussions of dropping out and to do everything in our power to keep the students productive and interactive to ensure a bright
Regrettably, some students must drop out of school and use that time to get a job to help support their families. Female students who become pregnant have to drop out to take care of their child. Poor choices constrain some students to land themselves behind bars before their education becomes complete. Primary caretakers becoming ill and/or dying can force high schoolers to drop out and to take on the role of their family member, who has now become unable (“School Dropout”). These events can leave kids all over the country with two different options that have a few stunning similarities; receiving their GED, or dropping out of high school without a