Holding kids back a grade was common when I was in school; when did they stop doing that?
I know they did somewhere along the line, just not sure why.
I know they did somewhere along the line, just not sure why.
It wasn't exactly common when I was in school, but it was something we were all concerned about. They even had a special "transition" class between kindergarten and 1st grade for students who weren't quite ready for 1st grade. My youngest brother had to go to transition due to hearing problems he had when he was young (he had lots of trouble with his inner ears, including having to get tubes in them).
Personally, I don't know how much of it was hearing and how much of it was just that he had a terminal case of ants in his pants. It's funny watching his boys now, because they have that very same inability to sit still.
I did pre school two years in a row. 
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Boy, how the meaning of that word has changed over the years when talking about young people and problems.
My wife has many stories of her and co-workers recommending that a kid be retained and repeat a grade where the parents whined about it enough to the principal that they let them move up. She's dealing with one kid now in 3rd grade who is in that boat and is currently reading at a kindergarten/1st grade level.
I never finished kindergarten . . .I did pre school two years in a row.
Our class in school had 21 students our senior year, but they held back 3 of them because they didn't do well enough overall. I even graduated by only 1/2 of a credit. If I remember right, one had to have 18 to graduate and I only had 18 1/2.
I had to do 6th grade twice cuz I discovered Marvel Comics. Still learned more from the X-Men than I ever did from Mrs. Roper.
My son will have his third grade exam at the end of this year here. It's certainly something that is on our radar, though more because it's an additional test that will cause stress and not because we are worried he wont advance.
They certainly make a big deal about it, but more because they get evaluated for it and not because it will likely keep that many kids from advancing. IIRC, they get multiple chances at the exam. What it has really led to, though, is more testing overall.
They do a lot of exams throughout the year to prepare them for the big one. They have Accelerated Reader points they have to earn through reading and testings about each book. That in turn leads to STAR testing. All of that builds up to the big exam at the end of the year.
And what i find more amusing about it is that a student could demonstrate that they can read above the level needed to advance all year, but if they perform poorly on the main exam they (in theory) would get held back. It's a lot of theatre.
That said, we are fortunate to have a great principal who is big on reading as a foundation for everything. Every kid in the 2nd and 3rd grade met each of their AR goals last year. (We don't district, so each kid attends the same school as others in their grade). That is a heck of an achievement when you look at the wide range of backgrounds and abilities in a public school with this many kids in those grades.
They certainly make a big deal about it, but more because they get evaluated for it and not because it will likely keep that many kids from advancing. IIRC, they get multiple chances at the exam. What it has really led to, though, is more testing overall.
They do a lot of exams throughout the year to prepare them for the big one. They have Accelerated Reader points they have to earn through reading and testings about each book. That in turn leads to STAR testing. All of that builds up to the big exam at the end of the year.
And what i find more amusing about it is that a student could demonstrate that they can read above the level needed to advance all year, but if they perform poorly on the main exam they (in theory) would get held back. It's a lot of theatre.
That said, we are fortunate to have a great principal who is big on reading as a foundation for everything. Every kid in the 2nd and 3rd grade met each of their AR goals last year. (We don't district, so each kid attends the same school as others in their grade). That is a heck of an achievement when you look at the wide range of backgrounds and abilities in a public school with this many kids in those grades.
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