Anonymous wrote:Non teacher or school specialist here but curious - if there’s a student that is not at level how does continuing to push them forward help? If you have a third grader who is two grades behind, so doing K work, you would still want them to go on to 4th grade while you continue trying to work on figuring out why? I’m not saying holding back is the first pick and you don’t try other things first, but two grade levels behind doesn’t seem like the time to just push forward.

A kid who is "two years behind" in reading or math may still be keeping up with the work and getting passing grades. Especially in the younger years. And weakness may be in only a subject or two - not across the board. There is A LOT of variation within a grade level.

My kid has LDs and sometimes tests 1-2 years behind on standardized testing (and sometimes 1-2 years ahead), but when you look at the actual school work during the year he can do fairly well with some accommodations. He's still learning year to year even if some of his skills are lacking.

I would push REALLY hard to keep a kid with peers - remediate with interventions & accommodations, IEP/504, summer school, tutors, etc.

It would be really tough for most kids to repeat a grade. Truly a last resort.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op -- are you at a neighborhood school or are you at a lottery school? my two littles are at a neighborhood school (one is in k and one is in 4th) both have been struggling. both are not "at level" with their peers. we have been in contact with the school who provides tutoring twice a week, plus there is extra support at extended day (they sometimes take advantage and sometimes they just want to play with friends) and they also have some small group help during the school day. my girls have different challenges and overall we have been pleased with the extra support offered at the school.

OP here--we are at a lottery school. What school are you at? We have nothing like what you describe at our school. I specifically asked in my last email to the teacher and she has not responded yet, but, wanted to put it out there in writing as an ask, because I think those types of supports would make a tremendous difference for our DC.

Amazing how different the schools are in what they offer. However, being at a lottery school, especially if it's immersion, maybe that's the difference? We are at a S. Arlington neighborhood school.

Is your school Title I? Also, APS has concentrated its six math interventionists in schools with highest overall need for remediation. Is the in-school tutoring done by the math interventionists?

The tutoring is not math related so I don't think it's a math interventionist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op -- are you at a neighborhood school or are you at a lottery school? my two littles are at a neighborhood school (one is in k and one is in 4th) both have been struggling. both are not "at level" with their peers. we have been in contact with the school who provides tutoring twice a week, plus there is extra support at extended day (they sometimes take advantage and sometimes they just want to play with friends) and they also have some small group help during the school day. my girls have different challenges and overall we have been pleased with the extra support offered at the school.

OP here--we are at a lottery school. What school are you at? We have nothing like what you describe at our school. I specifically asked in my last email to the teacher and she has not responded yet, but, wanted to put it out there in writing as an ask, because I think those types of supports would make a tremendous difference for our DC.

Amazing how different the schools are in what they offer. However, being at a lottery school, especially if it's immersion, maybe that's the difference? We are at a S. Arlington neighborhood school.

Is your school Title I? Also, APS has concentrated its six math interventionists in schools with highest overall need for remediation. Is the in-school tutoring done by the math interventionists?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op -- are you at a neighborhood school or are you at a lottery school? my two littles are at a neighborhood school (one is in k and one is in 4th) both have been struggling. both are not "at level" with their peers. we have been in contact with the school who provides tutoring twice a week, plus there is extra support at extended day (they sometimes take advantage and sometimes they just want to play with friends) and they also have some small group help during the school day. my girls have different challenges and overall we have been pleased with the extra support offered at the school.

OP here--we are at a lottery school. What school are you at? We have nothing like what you describe at our school. I specifically asked in my last email to the teacher and she has not responded yet, but, wanted to put it out there in writing as an ask, because I think those types of supports would make a tremendous difference for our DC.

Amazing how different the schools are in what they offer. However, being at a lottery school, especially if it's immersion, maybe that's the difference? We are at a S. Arlington neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:Have you hired a tutor? What have you done to help at home? If you can afford it, that is step one. What does the teacher say? What interventions have been given already?

Why should families who also had to pay out of pocket during COVID have to to pay for APS and their mistakes? COVID has done a number on kids and it's time APS takes some accountability and provides us with resources. Uhhh.

Anonymous wrote:op -- are you at a neighborhood school or are you at a lottery school? my two littles are at a neighborhood school (one is in k and one is in 4th) both have been struggling. both are not "at level" with their peers. we have been in contact with the school who provides tutoring twice a week, plus there is extra support at extended day (they sometimes take advantage and sometimes they just want to play with friends) and they also have some small group help during the school day. my girls have different challenges and overall we have been pleased with the extra support offered at the school.

OP here--we are at a lottery school. What school are you at? We have nothing like what you describe at our school. I specifically asked in my last email to the teacher and she has not responded yet, but, wanted to put it out there in writing as an ask, because I think those types of supports would make a tremendous difference for our DC.

op -- are you at a neighborhood school or are you at a lottery school? my two littles are at a neighborhood school (one is in k and one is in 4th) both have been struggling. both are not "at level" with their peers. we have been in contact with the school who provides tutoring twice a week, plus there is extra support at extended day (they sometimes take advantage and sometimes they just want to play with friends) and they also have some small group help during the school day. my girls have different challenges and overall we have been pleased with the extra support offered at the school.

Sadly, public schools, or at least around here, tend not to allow a child to repeat. Even if it is needed. The system is just too big. There is a bit more to all this then just looking at an individual child and saying they should pass or fail a grade level. We learned all this the hard way.