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Social promotion, or the common practice of moving a student on to the next grade level even if he or she shows little or no evidence of mastering the concepts taught at the current grade level, has long been a controversial topic. According to Connie Llanos, the author of this article, officials at Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the nation, are "work[ing] on a new approach that is expected to ensure students advance only if they meet academic goals." While it seems that this approach to promoting students makes the most sense, past experience has shown that many roadblocks prevent implementation of this type of plan. The number one roadblock is (as usual): funding. Often there is little or no money for providing interventions for students who are at risk of failing academically. After school tutoring, classroom parapros, summer school, and other intervention programs are often cut when funding is unavailable, therefore there is often little evidence that a student who is held back will get additional assistance the second time around. Another roadblock is the perceived social stigma in regards to "flunking." Many times parents and teachers don't want to risk damaging a child's self esteem by holding him/her back from advancing to the next grade level along with the rest of the peer group. In addition, there seems to be confusion over the benefits of repeating a grade--some studies say it's not beneficial to the student, while some say it is.
I actually have a very hard time deciding where I stand on the retention issue. In some cases, I can see the benefits, and in others, I think the process would be futile. One big reason, in my mind, as to why retention is such an issue is our whole system of placing students in groups based largely on their birth dates, all the while knowing full well that children develop at different rates. I know it's a huge pie-in-the-sky pipe dream, but if we could move to a more flexible system of grouping students based on developmental stages, with more opportunities to move among groups, I feel grade level retention could become an obsolete point.
The complete article, LA Tries Again to Eliminate Social Promotion," by Connie Llanos, posted online on July 26, 2011, can be viewed at:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/25/37mct_socialpromotion.h30.html
I like your "pie in the sky" dream. I recently told a friend of mine who has a child in danger of repeating a grade to ask those very same questions. My biggest concern when it comes to repeating a grade is what is going to be different the second time around? Will there be more interventions, more help, more communication? If not, then I really don't see the point in holding a child back. I believe there is a quote about trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results as the definition of insanity. I think that could apply in most cause where students are held back.
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