Retention and parent conferences

[Guest guest]

Hi,

it is not so interesting to me to know what Americans in general think about retention or social promotion. I suggest you read all that when you have read what the state and county policies are. It does not mean much to our kids what various organizations or private lawfirms think, because it does not apply one bit to our lives.

Here's what applies to your life: TheBroward County Policy.

Look at http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/sbbcpolicies/docs/p6000.1.pdf I suggest you save this paper in your files in case you need to look at it again later. This Broward policy applies to you.

Also, look at http://www.ed.gov./PDFDOCS/socialprom.pdf The introduction is by former Pres. Clinton. This is how our federal government looks at retention, and thefore it applies to our state, our county and to you.

Social promotion means that the child is promoted regardless of his academic performance. He is moved up to the next grade level even though he failed and not academically ready to move on. The school has, in my opinion, not given the child another chance to do it all over again, and a child has been left behind.

On a more personal note, I have two B.S degrees, two M.S. degrees and a "all but dissertation doctorate" in special education (I have so far not finished my doctorate). I failed algebra II once, and statistics three times. At the time I blamed everything on my instructors, all 5 of them. I realize now that my instructors were all OK. The problem was me: I hated statistics. Well, social promotion was not an option, I was told, and I had to take every single course over and over. I simply needed more time for things to sink in. It went to fast, and I felt that the instructiors rushed through the curriculum. The other students seemed to do fine, and they passed. However, I needed more practice. Retention is about needing more practice.

Of course, I was an adult at the time and the failure did not affect me the way it would have if I had been retined as a child. Gen ed kids and high functioning ASD kids may feel awful if they are retained. It can absolutely harm their selfesteem. But, beeing behind and getting low grades the next school could make the child feel worse. Is the answer then to remove the child from his gen ed class and provide special education services? Or should the teacher provide all the kids with books for, say, third grade and second grade books for the one who is struggling? What do you think?

In all fairness, I don't believe that retention will significantly harm a cluster kindergarten or first grader. My point is that those of you who have kids in primary grade levels should be aware of the child's right to stay in elementary for another two years. If you haven't discussed this with your teachers this year, do it now. You have 4 more days.

I keep hearing from parents who say they haven't had a parent-teacher conference in months. This is hard for me to understand. They say they don't know what their child is doing in reading and math. If you are one of these parents, please request a conference now. Call today. You need to know what to work on for the next two months, what books to read and what to work on in math. You should have a list of things to do during the summer. Ask the teacher to lend you curriculum books that you need to practice. If they can't lend you books, ask for the title of the books and the authors. You or other family members will buy these books at the ACE bookstore, or at amazon.com. Tell then that! You need to ask what curriculum your child is on and have the teacher write it down. The teacher must be held responsible for having implemented a curriculum approved by Broward county, that is why you ask her to write it down.

Retention letters go home to all the students, ESE and gen ed, within a week after the final test scores are back (FCAT and FAA), so in May. These are letters from the principal. If you, a cluster parent, did not receive this letter, you should ask your child's teacher why you did not receive it. The more you know about the school system, the better you will become at asking questions and moving forward the correct way. When you do this you are also directing your teacher the right way (I know it is not you job).

What I want you to think about is your own feeling about retention There is no shame in retaining a child. Our focus needs to be on what serves him the best.

I welcome all feedback. Feel free to "vent" your frustrations.

Liz.

To: sList Sent: Sun, June 6, 2010 5:22:15 PMSubject: Re: Retention and parent conferences

This information can all be found here http://www.wrightsl aw.com/info/ retain.index. htm

On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 8:37 AM, Heifferon <gary00001msn (DOT) com> wrote:

, where can I find the research?

From: sList@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:sList@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of HawkSent: Saturday, June 05, 2010 6:20 PMTo: sList@ yahoogroups. comSubject: Retention and parent conferences

MOST children should NOT be retained. It has been shown that there is no real benefit to retention and actually harms students. FACTSStudents rated grade retention as the single most stressful life event, higher than the loss of a parent or going blind. Retained students are less likely to receive a high school diploma by age 20, receive poorer educational competence ratings, and are less likely to be enrolled in any post-secondary education program. Retained students receive lower educational and employment status ratings and are paid less per hour at age 20.You can find more information here and read papers published studying this. More available here http://www.wrightsl aw.com/info/ retain.index. htm

On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 9:51 AM, Lizzie Berg <floridalizzie@ yahoo.com> wrote:-- AutismOnTheGo. com