Jeb Bush, in regard to class retention of children in school, one of his signature education reforms, said last week in response to criticism, “God forbid if little Johnny is stressed out. How horrible it is for their self-esteem if they’re held back.” Mr. Bush, who is probably running for president, said this at a “Keeping the Promise” meeting through the Foundation for Florida’s Future, Mr. Bush’s education policy group.
But consider that statement with this. Last May, David Smiley and Michael Vasquez reported in the Miami Herald, that due to the FCAT results in South Florida, 10,000 third graders were in danger of being held back. Thirty-three thousand students feared they could fail third grade throughout the State of Florida. Some of these students, as noted, probably got exceptions, but others failed.
Thirty three thousand kids who are stressed out and have low self-esteem, not to mention thousands of others who barely made it, and others who worry whether they will make it even though they will—how can that be a good thing?
A child who stresses and who has low self-esteem is more likely to grow up maladjusted and not do well in society. Retention, and the fear of it, is an awfully negative approach to teaching and learning. It can even lead to health problems.
Sadly, if Mr. Bush would Just Read about retention, he would learn that there is little, if any (I haven’t seen any), real research stating that retention works! Here are some negative effects of retention:
- Children who are retained do worse in school later on than their counterparts who are socially promoted.
- Children who repeat are at a greater risk for dropping out of school later on. This threat increases the older a child is when they are retained.
- Many children have behavior problems after they are retained.
- There is less likelihood that a retained student will wind up with steady employment.
- Retention is especially bad if the student has to repeat the same work they failed on to begin with.
Despite so much negative research surrounding the effectiveness of retention, it is the sacrosanct ideology of many education reformers, Mr. Bush is certainly not alone, that getting tough on children is the only way they will improve. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a big advocate of retention too, and you see few politicians really speaking out against retention. Some parents like it! Why else are so many Americans buying into “rigor,” “grit,” and “no excuses?”
Put this together with school work that is growing increasingly more difficult and inappropriate for the grade level (kindergarten is the new first grade) it is no wonder that so many students feel stressed and experience low self-esteem.
Think how difficult it must be for a child when those whose opinion they value most insist they must learn the material when it doesn’t make sense. How do they fare when they don’t understand jumbled-up letters when trying to read, or they can’t write the way they are expected because of a learning disability.
Speaking of which, unfortunately, learning disabilities seem to now be considered passé in our public schools. Dyscalculia , dyslexia, and dysnomia are gone with the wind. If students don’t master 3rd grade, the idea is that you keep them there until they do. It is terribly simplistic and doesn’t work.
Certainly students should be challenged in school, but have you ever known a child who thrived on feeling like a failure?
I am not talking about giving inflated grades or handing out awards to children who never did anything to earn them. I am talking about looking at individual learning difficulties and addressing them realistically, without deflating a child’s self-confidence…without bringing stress into their lives. Often it involves adaptations.
It has been said that flunking (and that is what children call it) is one of three situations students fear most—along with losing a parent and going blind!
Instead of retention, there are other ways to help children without lowering their self-esteem or stressing them out. Here is an example of what could be done, and it would be less costly probably too.
- Lower class size in K-3rd grade. If policymakers don’t want to lower class size in every class, they should, at the very least, look at lowering class sizes in just K-3rd grade. One of the best studies ever done in education was Tennessee Project STAR which showed lowering K-3 class sizes as beneficial. That study should be revisited.
- Looping. Looping keeps young students with the same teacher for two years. The teacher can assist a student who works slower without making them stand out as failing in a repeat class.
- Multiage grouping. Multiage grouping can help younger children grow with older children. It is reminiscent of the one room schoolhouse. Here, it can be done with just a couple of grades.
- Resource Rooms. Children often fail in one weak area and that drags them down in general. A resource class where they get more individual assistance or remediation for their area of difficulty might help them boost their ability all around!
- Individualization. This is most important. Looking more closely at the strengths and weaknesses of all children, and providing interventions for the weak areas, would be a plus. Why not provide an individual plan for every child?
- Tutoring. Schools could provide tutoring by older students for service credit.
They say that Mr. Bush didn’t speak about Common Core at this recent education soirée. Perhaps he realizes CC isn’t so great. He should rethink retention too. He doesn’t have research to back it up either, and most parents don’t want it for their own children.
And what he said just didn’t sound nice at all.
I heard once that Mr. Bush, as Governor, would visit schools and tutor students. I thought that was pretty nice. Maybe he needs to get back to it and pay attention to children with real problems—their anxieties and stressors.
He could also spend some time Googling PROBLEMS WITH CLASS RETENTION—Shane Jimerson and others. The National Association of School Psychologists has this to say about it and they include additional alternatives to retention. See HERE.
In the end, what will probably unhinge the education reformers is that they don’t seem to get it. Parents really love their kids, and with the current education reforms, more and more students are being beaten down. That’s no way to learn. That’s no way to live.
Mickey Chick says
Fear and trauma trigger the amygdala response. The amygdala response prevents a child from learning or retaining new information. It is well known that a student’s deficiency levels can be traced back to a earlier traumatic experience (accident, divorce, abuse, etc.). Since a student’s biggest fear is being held back, this traumatic event will actually be counter-productive to their educational achievement.
Nancy Bailey says
And since many students who fail come from disadvantaged backgrounds affected by poverty, there is a pattern that unfolds. Thank you, Mickey Chick.
Heather says
I heard this speech and he almost did say common core. I am a conservative republican and will not vote for this idiot. I was one of those kids 20 years ago worrying about graduating after taking the then TAAS test. I never passed it only missing one question each time and finally I was passed through due to having moderate ADD. I did graduate and walk with my class although I still will never feel accomplished because I did not actually pass that test that I worked so hard to pass by going to any tutoring offered to me. It’s a life long feeling of FAILURE so now my own children have even more challenges to face than I did. I disagree with the argument of kids living in poverty are the only ones affected by this test. I was not living in poverty and neither are my children and we still had problems passing the STAAR. So it’s a problems to everyone who learns a little slower or may not be a good test taker. I pray this test will go away but I am losing hope.
Nancy Bailey says
Heather, I am sorry to read this, but thank you for sharing. I was not a super test taker myself sometimes, so I can empathize with your story. And I agree about not needing to be living in poverty to be negatively affected by tests. Tests should not define who you are but only provide some information to help you along your way. I once had a professor who said “Never trust tests!” Think about that today when considering how tests are used! Best wishes for you and your children.
joan grim says
Heather,
Thank-You. Telling your story is an act of courage. I’ve met many children and adults who can’t shake the shame of performing poorly on a test and blame that failure on themselves. The privileged ignorati, of which Jeb Bush is a member, are force feeding us garbage reform that they would never accept for their own children.
In this hyper-competitive “race” to the “top” more & more children are branded as ‘not good enough’ by poorly designed tests. The belief that tests are infallible prevents our lawmakers from fixing this broken education policy. Our tools for measuring knowledge are never a replacement for the realities of life. I worry we will lose generation of minds if the mindless corporate reform isn’t stopped.
Nancy Bailey says
Thank you, Joan. I share your worries.
123A2Z says
Just a few comments:
First, I agree with all of your suggested alternatives. Smaller class size in primary grades is
especially powerful for student success.
Second, Children are also being pushed into Pre-school and Kindergarten simply because they
are the appropriate chronological age. Waiting until a child is emotionally and physically
ready to start school is also a consideration that can help them avoid problems later.
Third, the statistics that were given about children who have been retained are not necessarily
happening simply because the child was retained in school. Those behaviors may be a result of
their overall home life or personalities, which may also be a factor in why they were retained in the first place.
Nancy Bailey says
Very good insight! Thank you for commenting!
T.J. says
My nephew failed 7th grade this year due to 2 courses. They didn’t tell me until it was too late to help pay for summer school. His mom, my sister also failed 6th grade, while I, her younger sister, was promoted to 6th. She passed with me to 7th and 8th grade. She failed 8th grade, as I went to 9th. She was left in middle school in 8th grade with our 2 younger sisters (twins) were promoted to 8th with her, while I went to high school. She and one of the twins then failed 9th. Its no wonder she dropped out in her second year of 9th.
It turn out she is bipolar, borderline personality, and had learning disabilities. Now she is an alcoholic. Her son, the one that failed, has adhd and has a twitching disorder. He lives with his dad and only has one parent in the home. He has been set-up to fail. Now, he is following in her footsteps.
I have been looking into credit recovery courses and options, but in middle school the options aren’t there. He failed math and science. So he has to repeat an entire year and all other classes – for science which he could pass in 8th without redoing 7th and math, which is a 2 part course.
Middle school students have been ignored really. I mean, they sit in class for their 180 days. Pass everything but 1 or 2 and have to repeat them all. Why don’t we give them the option to test out? Seriously – I mean they’ve already done the class time, yet we make them redo the entire year all subjects? I know they need to learn accountablity, but not offering options, will likely make him give up instead of lighting a fire under his feet. He is already pretty insecure and faces scrutiny for his minor twitches (like a result from chemo as a baby or adhd meds).
I just wish there were options to help him get back on track. I know summer school is an option but many of these failing students are low income families. Why do we pay for another full year of school with retention, but there aren’t any options to help pay for recovery courses? Its all so ridiculous.
Nancy Bailey says
You have a lot going on here, T.J. Thank you for sharing. I agree about middle school. For a time there was a push to understand this age group better. But now it is all about the test I’m afraid.
I’m sorry for your nephew failing. two classes I hope he can bounce back. I wonder if they would agree to a plan for him to take most classes in the regular class but repeat the two classes he missed. I’d ask. It’s worth a try.
If not, maybe he will do really well this time around on subjects he knows a little. I know it will probably be difficult repeating, but maybe he will learn to love a subject he didn’t like before.. Until they change course and stop retention it is a tough deal for students. Hang in there and keep us posted.