Reply to Given the rigor of Basis, was it ever expected to be for every kid in the District?

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Reply to "Given the rigor of Basis, was it ever expected to be for every kid in the District? "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Everyone of those skills, phonics and the math skills mentioned are taught before 5th grade so if the student comes to Basis without having mastered them prior to 5th, they need remediation.   [/quote]

Obviously, many kids in DC are not mastering these things based on the DCAS scores and other testing. The fact that such large numbers of students are failing tells me that lousy curricula choices are being made as they frequently are all over the country. Remediation of such lack of math and reading skills should be done long before 5th grade. [/quote]

Social promotion, too.  So little Johnny didn't learn how to count.  Oh well, promote him on.  Now little Johnny doesn't learn how to add and subtract.  Oh well, promote him on.  Now little Johnny doesn't learn how to multiply and divide.  Oh well, promote him on.  And next thing, you have little Johnny in 5th grade already with virtually no math skills.  It compounds from one grade to the next.  It needs to be addressed and remediated FAR earlier, the schools are doing little Johnny such a major disservice.[/quote]

I know you think this should be easy and obvious, but [i]if it were[/i], then this would not be a problem in the first place.

The research tells us that the only thing less successful than social promotion - is grade retention.

You will have to apply your clearly extensive pedagogical skills a little more "outside the box."[/quote]

The research is not as conclusive as you suggest.  I took a look at the literature some months ago and my impression was that most of the research focused on the impact on the retained child, and demonstrated that the outcomes for that child are about the same as they would have been under a policy of social promotion.  If you consider the possibility that many of these children has severe learning disabilities, this result is perhaps not surprising.

However, I found little research on the impact of a policy of retention on the retained child's peers.  I suspect that the true benefit of a retention policy accrues to the classmates of the retained child, who can move on with more advanced material without the burden of having their teacher distracted by the need to offer remedial lessons to the child who is promoted socially.

I am willing to be convinced otherwise, though.  Can you cite any research on the impact of retention v. social promotion on classmates?

[/quote]

[i]“To retain or to promote?” is a question vexing educational professionals,
parents, and policy makers throughout the United States. During the past decade, it has been
suggested that “Perhaps no topic in public education suffers from a greater divide between the
views of researchers and the views of practitioners and the public. The existing research overwhelmingly points to negative effects of retention” (Educational Research Service, 1998, p. 1).[/i]

You didn't even try, did you.  That's from the [b]very first hit[/b] on "social promotion vs. retention in schools"

Google EDU says "Scholarly articles for social promotion vs. retention in schools
… retention and social promotion: Promoting the social … - Jimerson - Cited by 70"

http://education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/NEW%20retention/Publications/BeyondGradeRetentionandSocialPromotion2006.pdf[/quote]

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