Fundamentals of Curriculum: Repeating School
Position Paper
Repeating School
Fundamentals of Curriculum Development
Patricia McGhee
May 5, 2009
Many parents face the dilemma of deciding whether they should allow their child to repeat a grade. It is a difficult decision. In fact when a student is struggling with their school-work the possibility of repeating a year level is sometimes suggested by parents and /or teachers. Another measurement for retention has become the standardized testing brought about by No Child Left Behind. Based on the rules instituted by some state boards of education, students must pass certain portions of the standardized tests in order to go on to the next grade level. Glynis Hannel an educator, speaker and psychologist in 2006 stated, “The decision is seldom an easy one.” Parents having anxiety about their student not coping if they advance to the next year level is counterbalanced by fears that having to repeat a year will damage their self-esteem.
Another name for repeating school is retention. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing defines retention as the practice of holding a student in the same grade for a year or longer. Ironically, some educators are suggesting that retention is the best way to end social promotion. Douglas Reeves, Ph.D. and the author of 20-Minute Learning Connection: A Practical Guide for Parents Who Want to Help Their Children Succeed in School states “Social promotion—the practice in which teachers and administrators appear to be indifferent to a student’s academic challenges and promote them anyway—has been a disaster.”
Whether a student is hurt or helped by repeating school is one of the heated debates in education today. When President Clinton in a State of the Union address vowed to end social promotion and as he describes, “its polar extreme, grade retention” these issues again came to the forefront of educational debate. Many school districts have retention policies. These school districts passed strict promotion policies often tied to student performance on standardized tests. The belief about retention is that repeating a grade gives the student a chance to catch up. However, research suggests that repeating grades in school is not successful if the retention is not accompanied by intensive support and interventions for the student. In addition in a report by a 1999 National Academy of Sciences specifically recommended that students not be held back on the basis of a “high stakes test”. In the early 1990’s school districts in Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia “rescinded their stringent promotion policies when research indicated a strong link between grade retention and drop out rates.” Now because of continued poor achievement by students states are passing laws forbidding social promotion and requiring schools to reinstate retention policies. In the document, The Balanced View: Social Promotion & Retention, it is stated that a good many political leaders are arguing for retention as the best response to student failure.
There are some factors that make it sensible for a student to repeat a year.
Repeating is sensible if there is an understanding of the reasons why the student is facing difficulties.
Repeating is sensible if there are in place appropriate arrangements to deal with those difficulties the students will face in the repeated year level class.
The student is immature for their age and there is a plan in place to help the student develop maturity during the year he/she repeats.
Because of other factors the student has had less schooling than current classmates.
By repeating the grade level, the student will have the opportunity to gain academic confidence being in a class where they can succeed in their school work.
The student will have the opportunity to gain social confidence.
The student accepts the need to repeat.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student repeating has friends in the younger year level.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student being considered for repeating is physically immature and would fit in with the younger age group easily.
Finally, it is sensible for a student to repeat a grade if he/she is changing schools and will be repeating the year in the new school.
There are also situations that may make it unwise for a student to repeat a year. One, the student is already older than the students in their current year level. Two, the student socializes well with their current classmates and even older students. Third, if the student will be able to cope with the curriculum with modifications and support then it may be unwise to have that student repeat a year. Four, the students is physically mature. Five, students will face demoralizing behavior from fellow students. Six, the student sees the repeated year as an unwarranted punishment. Finally, it would be unwise for a student to repeat a grade if the teacher in the repeated grade level will be unable to meet the student’s needs and no other options are available. When students are faced with having to repeat a grade they sometimes feel sad and angry. The idea of repeating a grade may be very stressful for students. One researcher states that sixth grade students said repeating a grade was more of a disastrous then the loss of a parent or being blind. Students feel embarrassed or ashamed when faced with repeating a grade.
Social promotion and retention both try to fix problems after they have occurred. The following are some approaches that have been successful in helping academically struggling students and eliminating retention and social promotion. One approach is one-to-one tutoring. A second solution that has a good track record is extended day /after school programs. A third solution that has worked is having extra help periods worked into the students’ and teachers’ schedules. Fourth, Saturday classes for students needing extra help have also had good results. Requiring students to attend summer school is a strategy that may aid in combating social promotion and retention. In addition, these opportunities must be available to students as soon as they need help and should be integrated with ongoing classroom work. It is also important that the help is provided by “skilled teachers who understand the nature of the student’s learning difficulty.” However, as stated in the research report entitled, The Balanced View: Social Promotion and Retention, none of these options is simple or inexpensive to implement.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Homeschooling
Homeschooling has long been a tradition in America. Men such as George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein are products of a homeschooling. Two historical reasons for the prominence of homeschooling are the lack of public schools and geographic isolation. Homeschooling, then, was a choice that many parents had to make, otherwise there would be no education for their children.
With the rise of public education and the reformation of the school system, homeschooling became a small movement in America. Many people in America saw the public school system as a ticket to upward mobility. Also, there was concern about the ability of the parents to teach their children. Perhaps it was best left to the professionals.
In the 1960s and 70s, however, there was an increase in homeschooling. Two prominent figures during this time were John Holt and Raymond Moore. John Holt's main argument was that public schools were unreformable and that education was better left in the hands of the parents in the home. Holt argued that “schools were by nature bureaucratic, inhumane settings that sought to rank and sort children using discriminatory standards and make them into docile, obedient citizens.” In 1977, Holt began a newsletter entitle Growing Without Schools. This newsletter espoused the view that children learn best through unstructured, real life experiences.
Raymond Moore presented the religious argument to homeschooling. Moore represented the Christian fundamentalists who objected to a secular humanistic curriculum in the public schools. Lack of religion in the curriculum is a major reason parents choose to homeschool. As Deborah Grubb (1998) noted in her paper Homeschooling: Who and Why?, “[t]oday, the parents who choose to educate their children at home in order to incorporate a religious basis to the educational curriculum are the largest and fastest growing group”(6).
Homeschooling is increasingly popular not only because of the religious freedom it provides, but it also provides a respite from the perceived ills of public education. Grubb affirmed, “It now appears that public schools themselves are coming under increased scrutiny as uncredentialed parents appear to be educating their children quite successfully” (4). There is a growing number of children who are being homeschooled. Approximately 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003, an increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being homeschooled in the spring of 1999.
Advantages of homeschooling include:
Individualized teaching
Variety of curriculum to choose from
Strengthened family relationships
Social experiences that are more positively influenced
Safety from crime-ridden schools
Integration of religion into curriculum
Disadvantages of homeschooling include:
Time restraints/ Time management
Financial restraints
Lack of Socialization
Time spent with child
Limited team sports
Going against the norm
Adequately preparing child
Being resourceful and creative
Repeating School
Position Paper
Repeating School
Fundamentals of Curriculum Development
Patricia McGhee
May 5, 2009
Many parents face the dilemma of deciding whether they should allow their child to repeat a grade. It is a difficult decision. In fact when a student is struggling with their school-work the possibility of repeating a year level is sometimes suggested by parents and /or teachers. Another measurement for retention has become the standardized testing brought about by No Child Left Behind. Based on the rules instituted by some state boards of education, students must pass certain portions of the standardized tests in order to go on to the next grade level. Glynis Hannel an educator, speaker and psychologist in 2006 stated, “The decision is seldom an easy one.” Parents having anxiety about their student not coping if they advance to the next year level is counterbalanced by fears that having to repeat a year will damage their self-esteem.
Another name for repeating school is retention. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing defines retention as the practice of holding a student in the same grade for a year or longer. Ironically, some educators are suggesting that retention is the best way to end social promotion. Douglas Reeves, Ph.D. and the author of 20-Minute Learning Connection: A Practical Guide for Parents Who Want to Help Their Children Succeed in School states “Social promotion—the practice in which teachers and administrators appear to be indifferent to a student’s academic challenges and promote them anyway—has been a disaster.”
Whether a student is hurt or helped by repeating school is one of the heated debates in education today. When President Clinton in a State of the Union address vowed to end social promotion and as he describes, “its polar extreme, grade retention” these issues again came to the forefront of educational debate. Many school districts have retention policies. These school districts passed strict promotion policies often tied to student performance on standardized tests. The belief about retention is that repeating a grade gives the student a chance to catch up. However, research suggests that repeating grades in school is not successful if the retention is not accompanied by intensive support and interventions for the student. In addition in a report by a 1999 National Academy of Sciences specifically recommended that students not be held back on the basis of a “high stakes test”. In the early 1990’s school districts in Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia “rescinded their stringent promotion policies when research indicated a strong link between grade retention and drop out rates.” Now because of continued poor achievement by students states are passing laws forbidding social promotion and requiring schools to reinstate retention policies. In the document, The Balanced View: Social Promotion & Retention, it is stated that a good many political leaders are arguing for retention as the best response to student failure.
There are some factors that make it sensible for a student to repeat a year.
Repeating is sensible if there is an understanding of the reasons why the student is facing difficulties.
Repeating is sensible if there are in place appropriate arrangements to deal with those difficulties the students will face in the repeated year level class.
The student is immature for their age and there is a plan in place to help the student develop maturity during the year he/she repeats.
Because of other factors the student has had less schooling than current classmates.
By repeating the grade level, the student will have the opportunity to gain academic confidence being in a class where they can succeed in their school work.
The student will have the opportunity to gain social confidence.
The student accepts the need to repeat.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student repeating has friends in the younger year level.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student being considered for repeating is physically immature and would fit in with the younger age group easily.
Finally, it is sensible for a student to repeat a grade if he/she is changing schools and will be repeating the year in the new school.
There are also situations that may make it unwise for a student to repeat a year. One, the student is already older than the students in their current year level. Two, the student socializes well with their current classmates and even older students. Third, if the student will be able to cope with the curriculum with modifications and support then it may be unwise to have that student repeat a year. Four, the students is physically mature. Five, students will face demoralizing behavior from fellow students. Six, the student sees the repeated year as an unwarranted punishment. Finally, it would be unwise for a student to repeat a grade if the teacher in the repeated grade level will be unable to meet the student’s needs and no other options are available. When students are faced with having to repeat a grade they sometimes feel sad and angry. The idea of repeating a grade may be very stressful for students. One researcher states that sixth grade students said repeating a grade was more of a disastrous then the loss of a parent or being blind. Students feel embarrassed or ashamed when faced with repeating a grade.
Social promotion and retention both try to fix problems after they have occurred. The following are some approaches that have been successful in helping academically struggling students and eliminating retention and social promotion. One approach is one-to-one tutoring. A second solution that has a good track record is extended day /after school programs. A third solution that has worked is having extra help periods worked into the students’ and teachers’ schedules. Fourth, Saturday classes for students needing extra help have also had good results. Requiring students to attend summer school is a strategy that may aid in combating social promotion and retention. In addition, these opportunities must be available to students as soon as they need help and should be integrated with ongoing classroom work. It is also important that the help is provided by “skilled teachers who understand the nature of the student’s learning difficulty.” However, as stated in the research report entitled, The Balanced View: Social Promotion and Retention, none of these options is simple or inexpensive to implement.
Repeating School
Fundamentals of Curriculum Development
Patricia McGhee
May 5, 2009
Many parents face the dilemma of deciding whether they should allow their child to repeat a grade. It is a difficult decision. In fact when a student is struggling with their school-work the possibility of repeating a year level is sometimes suggested by parents and /or teachers. Another measurement for retention has become the standardized testing brought about by No Child Left Behind. Based on the rules instituted by some state boards of education, students must pass certain portions of the standardized tests in order to go on to the next grade level. Glynis Hannel an educator, speaker and psychologist in 2006 stated, “The decision is seldom an easy one.” Parents having anxiety about their student not coping if they advance to the next year level is counterbalanced by fears that having to repeat a year will damage their self-esteem.
Another name for repeating school is retention. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing defines retention as the practice of holding a student in the same grade for a year or longer. Ironically, some educators are suggesting that retention is the best way to end social promotion. Douglas Reeves, Ph.D. and the author of 20-Minute Learning Connection: A Practical Guide for Parents Who Want to Help Their Children Succeed in School states “Social promotion—the practice in which teachers and administrators appear to be indifferent to a student’s academic challenges and promote them anyway—has been a disaster.”
Whether a student is hurt or helped by repeating school is one of the heated debates in education today. When President Clinton in a State of the Union address vowed to end social promotion and as he describes, “its polar extreme, grade retention” these issues again came to the forefront of educational debate. Many school districts have retention policies. These school districts passed strict promotion policies often tied to student performance on standardized tests. The belief about retention is that repeating a grade gives the student a chance to catch up. However, research suggests that repeating grades in school is not successful if the retention is not accompanied by intensive support and interventions for the student. In addition in a report by a 1999 National Academy of Sciences specifically recommended that students not be held back on the basis of a “high stakes test”. In the early 1990’s school districts in Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia “rescinded their stringent promotion policies when research indicated a strong link between grade retention and drop out rates.” Now because of continued poor achievement by students states are passing laws forbidding social promotion and requiring schools to reinstate retention policies. In the document, The Balanced View: Social Promotion & Retention, it is stated that a good many political leaders are arguing for retention as the best response to student failure.
There are some factors that make it sensible for a student to repeat a year.
Repeating is sensible if there is an understanding of the reasons why the student is facing difficulties.
Repeating is sensible if there are in place appropriate arrangements to deal with those difficulties the students will face in the repeated year level class.
The student is immature for their age and there is a plan in place to help the student develop maturity during the year he/she repeats.
Because of other factors the student has had less schooling than current classmates.
By repeating the grade level, the student will have the opportunity to gain academic confidence being in a class where they can succeed in their school work.
The student will have the opportunity to gain social confidence.
The student accepts the need to repeat.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student repeating has friends in the younger year level.
Repeating a grade is sensible if the student being considered for repeating is physically immature and would fit in with the younger age group easily.
Finally, it is sensible for a student to repeat a grade if he/she is changing schools and will be repeating the year in the new school.
There are also situations that may make it unwise for a student to repeat a year. One, the student is already older than the students in their current year level. Two, the student socializes well with their current classmates and even older students. Third, if the student will be able to cope with the curriculum with modifications and support then it may be unwise to have that student repeat a year. Four, the students is physically mature. Five, students will face demoralizing behavior from fellow students. Six, the student sees the repeated year as an unwarranted punishment. Finally, it would be unwise for a student to repeat a grade if the teacher in the repeated grade level will be unable to meet the student’s needs and no other options are available. When students are faced with having to repeat a grade they sometimes feel sad and angry. The idea of repeating a grade may be very stressful for students. One researcher states that sixth grade students said repeating a grade was more of a disastrous then the loss of a parent or being blind. Students feel embarrassed or ashamed when faced with repeating a grade.
Social promotion and retention both try to fix problems after they have occurred. The following are some approaches that have been successful in helping academically struggling students and eliminating retention and social promotion. One approach is one-to-one tutoring. A second solution that has a good track record is extended day /after school programs. A third solution that has worked is having extra help periods worked into the students’ and teachers’ schedules. Fourth, Saturday classes for students needing extra help have also had good results. Requiring students to attend summer school is a strategy that may aid in combating social promotion and retention. In addition, these opportunities must be available to students as soon as they need help and should be integrated with ongoing classroom work. It is also important that the help is provided by “skilled teachers who understand the nature of the student’s learning difficulty.” However, as stated in the research report entitled, The Balanced View: Social Promotion and Retention, none of these options is simple or inexpensive to implement.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Homeschooling- Kristen Schiers Taylor
Homeschooling
The choice to home school a child is just that: a choice. School choice affords parents the option to home school their children as opposed to the child attending a public or private school. The latest estimate from the U. S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences estimated the number of children in America who are home schooled as approximately 1.1 million children as of 2003. However, parents do not have to report to a school district that they are homeschooling a child and therefore the numbers most likely underestimate the number of children actually homeschooled in the United States. For parents, the reasons to home school children vary. The majority of parents cite concerns about the environment of schools while others wish to provide religious and or moral instruction. Additionally, families report dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools, the child has special needs, or a physical or mental health problem. Whatever the reason, the number of students being homeschooled in the United States is rising.
In New Jersey, homeschooling is becoming a more prevalent educational option. The state’s legislation indicates that under the compulsory education law (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) has permitted children to receive “equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school,” including the home. A parent or guardian, under New Jersey legislation, is not required to notify a school of the intent to educate a child at home. However, it is strongly encouraged that parents or guardians notify a school district of a child being homeschooled for record keeping purposes.
Certain disadvantages are expressed regarding homeschooling. To being, many parents underestimate the actual amount of time home instruction requires. Many deal with time management issues and issues of motivation and effective usage of time. Also, many believe homeschooling is inexpensive. However, many find that the materials for lessons, curriculum and projects are costly. The amount of time spent with one’s children is also underestimated. Many feel they spend the entire day with one’s child and at times report the relationship strained due to the lack of time apart. Additionally, unless a large network of friends and social events has been established, homeschooled children miss out on the social interactions that come with public education and participating in school sports and clubs. Also, establishing a curriculum that is competitive can prove to be difficult and may place a child at a disadvantage if one should desire higher education. Finally, parents face the ridicule and pressure from those around them who believe homeschooling to be wrong or against the norm. Parents may feel alone throughout the process.
References
http://www.nj.gov/education/genfo/overview/faq_homeschool.htm
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/estimated.asp
The choice to home school a child is just that: a choice. School choice affords parents the option to home school their children as opposed to the child attending a public or private school. The latest estimate from the U. S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences estimated the number of children in America who are home schooled as approximately 1.1 million children as of 2003. However, parents do not have to report to a school district that they are homeschooling a child and therefore the numbers most likely underestimate the number of children actually homeschooled in the United States. For parents, the reasons to home school children vary. The majority of parents cite concerns about the environment of schools while others wish to provide religious and or moral instruction. Additionally, families report dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools, the child has special needs, or a physical or mental health problem. Whatever the reason, the number of students being homeschooled in the United States is rising.
In New Jersey, homeschooling is becoming a more prevalent educational option. The state’s legislation indicates that under the compulsory education law (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) has permitted children to receive “equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school,” including the home. A parent or guardian, under New Jersey legislation, is not required to notify a school of the intent to educate a child at home. However, it is strongly encouraged that parents or guardians notify a school district of a child being homeschooled for record keeping purposes.
Certain disadvantages are expressed regarding homeschooling. To being, many parents underestimate the actual amount of time home instruction requires. Many deal with time management issues and issues of motivation and effective usage of time. Also, many believe homeschooling is inexpensive. However, many find that the materials for lessons, curriculum and projects are costly. The amount of time spent with one’s children is also underestimated. Many feel they spend the entire day with one’s child and at times report the relationship strained due to the lack of time apart. Additionally, unless a large network of friends and social events has been established, homeschooled children miss out on the social interactions that come with public education and participating in school sports and clubs. Also, establishing a curriculum that is competitive can prove to be difficult and may place a child at a disadvantage if one should desire higher education. Finally, parents face the ridicule and pressure from those around them who believe homeschooling to be wrong or against the norm. Parents may feel alone throughout the process.
References
http://www.nj.gov/education/genfo/overview/faq_homeschool.htm
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/estimated.asp
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