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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Mississippi also holds kids back in 3rd grade if they are not on grade level, which I think we need to do in FCPS. Kids who are not on grade level should be retained and the earlier they do it the more likely kids will catch up. We are promoting kids for emotional health who then fall further behind, which cannot be good for their emotional health or academic confidence. [/quote]

holding a kid back and create a whole host of other issues: social, emotional, etc. [/quote]

Sure, and when we pat them on the head and pass them along with their peers year after year, eventually they get known as the "slow" kid in the class. Eyes roll when they can't comprehend and everyone has to wait while the teacher explains something they should have learned already.  Or the teacher rolls eyes and moves on without trying to help the student and the kid doesn't learn as much.  The child becomes one that no one wants to do group projects with because they are so far below everyone else.

The kid can take a temporary hit socially and emotionally and have the support needed to get up to speed, or they can be unjustly characterized as "slow" and a burden, never reaching their potential, for the rest of their schooling career.

Then when they are 18+ and have to figure it out with remedial college classes, YouTube instruction or however (if ever) they fix the problem on their own, they will be another person who thinks public school sucks and teachers don't care.

Winning, I guess.[/quote]

Back in the day, when I was a child. we did not have the federal laws governing special education.  Yes, there were classes for the kids who were the "R" word, as it was called then, but LD?  No.  Maybe, some reading specialists, but not a lot of that.I do not recall anyone going to "specialists" for additional help.  In some places, there was wholesale "holding back."  I had a cousin who was held back in second grade--she still cannot spell.  I suspect she had a learning disability, but she is quite bright.

So, yes, intensive help makes a difference.  I do recall a friend (military family) who convinced a new middle school to let her son repeat seventh grade when they moved to a new school.  She said they had tried this before but the school system would not let them do this.  It was a good move--but, of course, did not have the social ramifications that might have been problematic in a school where everyone knew he was held back.

I was a teacher who taught lots of struggling kids from poor homes.  I taught first grade.  Some kids blossom at different times in first grade.  I taught a couple of kids who were repeaters and they still struggled.  I'm sure that they would have qualified for LD, had it been available to them.
Later, I taught in a DOD school and had a child who repeated first grade.  He thrived.  He was proud of having "done first grade before."  He bragged about it.  It was a very positive thing for him--he was quite immature and fit in well with the other kids.  However, this is not the norm for repeaters and I think the family played a big part in making it positive.

I kind of like the Mississippi "third grade" model.  Grades one and two focus on the basic skills with math and reading.  And, kids do sometimes learn in spurts.  
However, I do not think repeating more than one grade is a good idea, and I think, even in third, it should only be in situations where growth can be expected.
For kids who have serious problems with learning--I'm not sure that repetition of a grade is good.  They may need additional specialized help.  I'm thinking of a child I taught who had serious dyslexia--he desperately wanted to read.       Repetition would not have helped.
Hopefully, we know a lot more about helping dyslexic kids today than we did then.  But, FWIW, I always focused on phonics.   It may not be the cure all that some think for dyslexic kids.[/quote]

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