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A Presentation on the inefficacy of Social Promotion and Retention for students who are not meeting grade level performance standards.
This presentation is designed for current and potential administrators who want to demonstrate a need for alternative programming that will better meet the needs of our most challenged learners.
July, 2003 Leadership Academy
Angelina BerginMike KlugmanBill SwisherLiz Yarbrough
Today’s Picture High-stakes testing and the accountability movement
have catalyzed many states to end the practice of social promotion.
Furthermore, opponents of retention point to years of research documenting its ineffectiveness.
Because of the ineffectiveness of social promotion and retention, a search is on for better ways to help students improve their school performance.
A review of current literature and practice suggests promising alternatives to both practices.
These alternatives focus on preventing the failure cycle that results in poor performance so that social promotion and retention can segue into an effective, high-performance pentagon composed of intensified learning, skilled teachers, expanded learning options, assessment that informs teaching, and intervention— early and often.
Retention Students who are retained are at higher risk of dropping out of school. 25% of students who are retained drop-out! (CPS data) Students whose last school retention occurred in the middle (4-8) or
secondary (9-12) grades were more likely to drop out than those retained in the early elementary grades.
In 1993 alone, 41 percent of Hispanics (who dropped out) had repeated more than one grade.
Overall retention rates have increased 40% over the last 20 years. 30 to 50% have been retained once before 9th grade. Highest retention rates found among poor, minority, and inner-city youth. Boys retained more often than girls. ESL, late birth dates, transience, attention problems, single-parent
homes are more likely to be retained.
Social Promotion Numerous teachers implied it is district policy that no student will be retained in
the same grade, or even in sequential grades, for more than two years, a fact they believe students are well aware of and which enormously impacts student behavior.
Teachers also repeatedly note students passed by non-academic promotion are chronic discipline problems.
"The system is overloaded," said one teacher who talked to Sun Newspapers directly. "The bottom line is, I have nothing against the psychologists, but the kids are simply not getting the help they need.“
Since children are not allowed to repeat kindergarten, I have a class full of children who are in my first grade who are so immature that they can't possibly come close to mastering any skills that I am supposed to be teaching.
"It's a shame it's always cast in these terms-retention and social promotion," says Johns Hopkins University professor Karl Alexander, author of On the Success of Failure: A Reassessment of the Effects of Retention in the Primary Grades. "There ought to be a lot of things in between. We need to find out about intervention programs that are effective and cost-effective."
The highest retention rates are in grade 9, not in early elementary school. (From Principals.org)
Coming to your school?? Trends and Laws that are drawing
Regional Attention 28 states are either considering legal mandates from DOE that eliminates both social promotion
and retention, or already have in place (13). The Office of Alternative, Adult and Continuing Education Schools & Programs (New York City):
Operates 68 schools and programs in more than 400 sites throughout the city Services more than 37,000 students at any one time Conducts a full-range of education including: 26 Articulated Schools 25 Transfer Schools, 16 Transitional and Retrieval programs 15 LYFE Centers (Infants: 2 months to 3 yrs old) 2 Elementary schools, and 50 Adult Education Centers
General Trends The strongest demand for public-school alternatives is coming from non-white families… 13 States collect no state-wide data on grade retention. NCES provides no statistics about retention or social promotion. The presence of 8th grade high-stakes tests is associated with sharply higher dropout rates, especially for
students at schools serving mainly low-SES students. (Reardon 1996)… …It may be thus problematic if high-stakes tests lead individual students who would not otherwise dropout to
do so.
The 4 Frames
Political Concerns HR concerns Structural Concerns Symbolic
Curriculum
Day Structure
Age / Skills
Racial Tendencies within District
Loss of Diversity to General Pop if
Pull out program
Alternative setting req. more staff
Pre-emptive planning – Hope for the best, but plan for the worst!
How to Move Forward……a plan for any district.
Establish Indicators of Future Failure at each Grade Level
Identify initiatives aimed at addressing those indicators. Non-Academic Factors Academic Factors
Assess Efficacy of Programming Go Back to the Drawing Board…
Innovation!!
Alternative Models Use of multiple measures of student achievement. Move away from reliance on
single measures. Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School
http://www.mancomp.org
Articulated Schools Transfer Schools Alternative Elementary Schools English Language Learners College Partnerships Arts Education Collaborations External Learning/Experiential Learning Technology Based Schools Social Change Schools Transitional Programs
Cost Analysis Financial Break-Down of various
Alternatives. (Click Here) Alternative 6-8 Model Transitional Programs Class Size Reduction Tutoring / Mentoring Block Scheduling / Looping Multi-Age / Grade Extended Day Extended Year Night School (Manhattan Night and Day)
Resources The National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/ www.Principals.org Intercultural Development Research Association
http://www.idra.org/Newslttr/1996/Oct/President.htm
National Association of School Psychologists http://www.schoolhousedoor.com/media/teacher/iq-graderete
ntion.txt
Northwest Regional Educational Library “When Students don’t succeed: Shedding Light on Grade Retention”
http://www.nwrel.org/request/july99/article1.html http://www.mancomp.org/ www.schoolrenewal.org/strategies/i-gradretain-mo.html
Articulated SchoolsSmall, theme-based schools grades 7-12 or 9-12
Baccalaureate School for Global Education Beacon School Central Park East Secondary School Landmark High School Legacy School for Integrated Studies Manhattan Village Academy Monroe Academy for Business & Law Vanguard High School Wings Academy
Transfer SchoolsDesigned to support students who have repeated
failure in high school Bronx Regional High School Cascades High School Community Preparatory High
School Concord High School Edward A Reynolds West Side
High School Gregorio Luperon High School High School Redirection
Satellite Academy Street Academy Urban Academy Lab High
School Metropolitan Corporate
Academy Pacific High School Park East High School Phoenix Academy
Alternative Elementary Schools
Bronx Little School (K-4) Ella Baker School (K-8)
English Language LearnersSchools designed for students whose primary language is
not English Brooklyn
International High School
High School of World Cultures
Liberty High School Lower East Side
Preparatory School Manhattan
International High School
College Partnerships10 schools with ‘College Now” programs
Alternative schools partnering on college campuses
College Partnerships10 schools with ‘College Now” programsAlternative schools partnering on college campuses
Brooklyn College Academy University Heights Hs (Bronx
Community College) Hostos Lincoln Academy
Arts Education CollaborationsSchools with arts-education themes
Ballet Tech (4 -12) Choir Academy of Harlem NYC Public School Repertory
Company Monroe Academy for Visual
Arts & Design New School for Arts &
Sciences (7-12)
External Learning/Experiential Learning City-As-School School for the Physical City (7-12) NYC Vocational Training Centers (47 sites)
Technology Based Schools
School of Cooperative Technical Education
Bronx Coalition Community School for Technology Robert Wagner Jr. Institute for Arts and Technology (7-12) School of Cooperative Technical Education
Social Change Schools
Coalition School for Social Change East New York Family Academy (7-12)
EBC High School for Public Service (Bushwick)
EBC HS for Public Safety & Law (East New York)
Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School Freedom Academy Unity High School Urban Peace Academy
Transitional Programs Auxiliary Services for High Schools (80 GED preparation sites) Borough Academies Career Education Center (36 sites including Job Corp locations) Eight Plus Learning Academies (14 sites) Island Academy and Horizon Academy (13 sites on Rikers
Island) Literacy Centers (Fredrick Douglass (Bk); James Baldwin (Bx)) Offsite Educational Services (83 sites including Substance
Intervention Centers) Outreach Program Passages Academy (7 sites for juvenile offenders) Program for Pregnant and Parenting Services Project Blend Second Opportunity Schools (for students suspended for up to
one year)
Community Based Organizations
Alternative, Adult and Continuing Education Schools and Programs has a long-standing history in working with Community Based Organizations, non-profits and other city agencies including:
Administration of Children Services ASPIRA Covenant House Department of Employment Department of Labor The Door Good Shepherd Services Office of Children & Family Services Phoenix House University Settlement Wildcat Services Alternative, Adult and Continuing Education Schools and Programs has
developed accountability measures to meet and exceed educational standards for all students, including those who are not successful in traditional educational settings.