Reply to Repeating kindergarten at same school

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Repeating kindergarten at same school - need advice /perspective "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here's some more information.

I'm an elementary school principal and have been in public education for over 20 years. There is no solid research that retention does any good. For the first year or two, your child may do fine. But by the third year, children who are retained are found back in the same place--struggling.

Often, teachers and administrators want to give "the gift of time" thinking that they are doing the child a favor. It's not the answer. Challenge them to show you the research that supports their position. You wouldn't expect your pediatrician to prescribe a treatment because it "feels like the right thing to do" or because "it worked for another kid..." This is a decision that will impact your kid for the rest of his life.

The piece that is often overlooked is the age of the child in future years, ie 13 year olds in 6th grade or 18 year olds as juniors in high school. Thirteen year olds have different social needs and behaviors than the 11 year olds that start out in 6th grade. It's not appropriate to put them in the same class. At the far end, there is the danger of dropping out. An 18 year old who is struggling in high school AND happens to be a junior is more inclined to drop out. The greatest predictor for dropping out of high school is retention.

There are kids in my school, both with IEPs and without, who were retained before I arrived. The fifth and sixth graders who were retained at the primary grades are still struggling, they're still behind in reading and they clearly stand out in either size or by their "junior high" behavior.

Clearly, I feel very strongly about this. I take my job very seriously and get very frustrated when others in my profession suggest something that has such a profound impact without regard for research and what the negative implications could be further down the road.
[/quote]

OK, here. I really appreciate this post. How can I get him evaluated? Both the school and professionals have advised against it bc of his young age. I'm having such a hard time with this decision.

To address your comment about age... So many parents here, red shirt, so even if I hold him back he'll be the same age as many of his peers bc of his late August bday. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics