With the increased dedication of school districts to raising academic standards and abolishing social promotion, enormous pressure has been placed on teachers and students to improve standardized test scores. While this may seem admirable from afar, its real-life and practical implications are often not so brilliant. In fact, the push toward higher standards often leads to tracking, skill grouping, and retention of qualifications, all of which have inherent problems. Tracking, pooling, and retention are widely practiced in the United States and many other countries, and are based on both theory and research. Tracking, most often practiced in high schools, groups students into courses or sequences of courses of various difficulty levels appropriate to their performance levels. Ability grouping, most commonly practiced in elementary schools, assigns students within classrooms to homogeneous groups of similar abilities. Grade retention requires students who have not met performance standards to repeat one or more grades. All three practices are based on the belief that children with similar abilities or achievement levels can learn together more efficiently than heterogeneous students. Other theories and research suggest that these practices may be inefficient and unwise. Some argue, for example, that students retained in grade may experience a decline in self-concept, which can determine their progress, making them less likely to catch up to grade-level standards. This is due, in part, to the fact that grade retention alone does not address the causes of academic failure. Others counter that, on the contrary, such students would eventually fall further behind and drop out, whether they retained them or not. To “socially promote” underprepared students would depreciate the value of the high school diplomas of those who meet rigorous standards. Similarly, some argue that it is more efficient to teach subjects like math when students share similar skills. For example, it would seem difficult for mathematics and calculation of consumption to be learned efficiently in a group. Still, it can be argued that faster learners can benefit from helping slower learners. Schools may also provide more class time and intensified instructional services to at-risk students to remediate or prevent them from falling behind in the first place.
Retention
While there is no magic cure for retention problems, alternatives should be examined before it’s too late—that is, before a student is about to be retained. By studying the experiences of successful students and making the findings available to professionals, researchers can help teachers focus on using teaching strategies that have proven successful. The following tips might also be helpful.
• Encourage preschool enrollment to reduce retention rates.
• Requires full day kindergarten.
• Provide remediation that is proportionate to the academic needs of children regardless of whether they are retained.
• Develop a strong network of advisors that allows teachers to meet students.
• Maximize peer relationships through cooperative learning and mentoring.
• Shift to interest-based learning where high school students are exposed to a career- or project-based education instead of the practice lectures and tests used now.
• Extend the academic calendar either to schooling throughout the year or to longer school days.
• Focus on retaining motivated and qualified teachers.
• Hold teachers to expectations for higher levels of curriculum and instruction.
The voices of researchers and professionals are not the only ones that must be heard. Parents also need to be more involved in helping their children avoid retention. Some ways to encourage parental involvement are:
• Develop “tip sheets” that have helpful suggestions on how parents can become more involved in their children’s education.
• Develop outreach and education programs for parents.
• Don’t wait until students are at risk of failing; Start communicating with parents early.
Grouping and Tracking
Why doesn’t retention, grouping, or tracking improve most kids’ academic progress? Unfortunately, in many schools, bundling and tracking have led to stagnant, pervasive courses designed to meet minimum curriculum standards. To make true progress, the intent, purpose, and design of the pooled classes must be examined and a high level of integrity must be maintained. The following recommendations deserve further consideration.
• Consider multi-age classrooms as a way to enrich children’s learning and development.
• Prioritize collaborative efforts among schools, employers, and higher education to support academic excellence.
• Have goal conferences with students. Integrate student self-assessments into decisions about their grouping.
• Provide stronger preparation courses for teachers and principals that address diversity in learning rates and styles.
• Keep the grouping flexible.
• The grouping must include high expectations, a rigorous curriculum, and equitable access to high-quality instruction.
• Promote cultural awareness that will help teachers meet the diverse needs of their students.
• Promote public awareness. Educate the community on the best ways to group students.
• Hold administrators, teachers, parents, and students accountable. Everyone must work together to achieve the optimal level of student success.
