Should Struggling Students Be Retained - Assignment Example

Should Struggling Be Retained? Introduction Increasing competition in all aspects of life impose varied questions in the minds of educatorsand parents to tackle with the struggling students, ranging from coaching in the weaker areas such as reading dexterities, to necessitate that the students repeat the grade for an additional year. However, grade repetition is considered as a last-resort alternative; bearing in mind that all other efforts to improve the academic performance have failed significantly to make the student ready for the next grade. In early classes retention could be due to behavioral issues but in later grades decision to retain the student in the same grade could be contentious. Supporters like Lorence and Dworkin argue that retention will endow the low-performing students with extra-time to achieve grade-level academic as well as behavioral proficiencies before entering the next grade that promoting children to the higher grade prior to their procured requisite knowledge and expertise lays down the platform for their failure. On the contrary, opponents of grade retention like Nancy Frey, believe that repetition is not the solution to enhance the grades of struggling students, on the other hand it negatively influences the psychology of the struggling students and affects their emotional and social development as well as self-esteem of the students. One of the biggest reasons of increasing number of high school dropout is retention of struggling students. Parents and educators are therefore hesitant to support grade retention. Moreover, it costs to the state, an additional year of schooling for struggling retained students. Numerous controversies persist regarding the retention of struggling students. However, the judgment of whether or not to promote struggling students ought to be supported with their grades, their expertise and aptitude levels on state-wide appraisals and their performance on other scholarly or educational accomplishments. These parameters act as indicators and retention policies of the schools (Cannon & Lipscomb, n.d.). Research For Retention Research related to the retention policies provide a mix tang. Report published by Brookings Institution on 16th August 2012, suggests that repeating for younger kids who are struggling with reading skills could be advantageous which supports the views of Lorence and Dworkin. Further, Martin West of Harvard Graduate School of Education believed that retention of struggling student is based on the capability, maturity of student and parental intervention which researchers are unable to integrate into their studies. West’s findings reveal that retained students persistently perform distinctly as compared to their promoted peers when both were tested at the same grade level, standing to advantage of an additional year of instructions (Garland, 2012) which is in accordance with Lorence and Dworkin. According to National Center for Educational Statistics (2006), retention can augment the possibility of school dropouts. Studies showed that 6th grade repeaters have more prospects to catch up as compared to 8th grade repeaters; the later are more likely to drop out as compared to their peers as revealed from the data of Chicago by Jacob & Lefgren (2007). According to David (2008), neither retention nor the promotion is the satisfactory solution to keep up with the struggling students which is in accordance with the views of Nancy Frey. The most imperative challenge according to David (2008) is to figure out what could be done to help the struggling students catch up. An understanding is desired to know the failure of a particular student. Intensive intervention may serve as a key path to success. For instance, constant absence of student from the class, if addressed at right time might bring solution to the problem. Academia redshirting, ethnicity, parental factors, gender (boys are two folds more likely to be retained as compared to girls) and socioeconomic status could not be overlooked while retaining a student, as they make disproportionate allocation of students who are held back raising questions about the prejudice of teachers’ attitudes for academic capabilities of retained students (Garland, 2012). A report by Education Commission of the States (ECS) on third grade literacy policies (2012), highlighted the fact regarding implications of strict retention policies, stating that: “While some researchers have found that retained students ‘can significantly improve their grade-level skills during their repeated year,’ others have found that less than half of retained students meet promotion standards after attending summer school and repeating a grade. Some research points to other negative effects, including a greater likelihood of bullying and victim behavior, or dropping out of high school”(Garland, 2012). Implications to Educational Psychology Educational psychology deals with the application of psychology concerned with the relevance of the values, techniques and other resources of psychology to bring about the explanation of the predicaments confronting the teacher endeavouring to express the development of children toward distinct purposes. For instance, it deals with the development, potentialities and needs of a child. Educational psychology deals with the process of learning and the approaches to make it efficacious, thus it is considered as the psychology of learning to have child centred education. Educational psychology enables one to understand that learning turns out to be more effectual if features like motivation, dedication and interest are taken into deliberation by every teacher. The knowledge of psychology can be harnessed by the teacher to transform her approach to the teaching learning procedure (Psychology of Learning, n.d.). Educational psychology enables learning behavior and deals with the interventions in the process of learning. However, in case of retention of struggling students, studies where retained students were compared with not-retained students utilizing the strongest research methodologies, highlighted that repeating a grade does make a difference in accomplishments of the struggling students in personal as well as social facade in short or long run, but the overall prevalence of substantiation supports that students who repeat a grade are no better off, or at times worse off, than if they had been promoted with their classmates. The foremost limitation in the research on retention is enunciating the edifying experiences of struggling retained students. According to Roderick & Nagaoka (2005) retention in high-prospect test deduces that the quandary lies with the learner, not with the educational institute. If the intention of retention is to present an opening for students to grab hold of the excellence and appropriateness in their academic understanding and knowledge it is expected to be an influential aspect (David, 2008). On the contrary, without many efforts from both, teacher and the student the purpose of retention could not be achieved. Conclusion Retention of struggling students while their peers are promoted influences the psychology and self-esteem of the child to an enormous degree. Such an act may not help the struggling students academically; additionally, promoting struggling students without appropriate skills desired for the higher/ next grade could also be demoralizing. Intervention at an early stage does not allow struggling students to witness the situation of retention. As retention duplicates a schooling year, other solutions to this issue could be summer school, before/after school programs or additional help during school hours which could serve to be efficient ways. An early diagnosis as well as targeted involvement could only help the struggling students cope with their peers; retention for another year could not serve the purpose. As educational psychology deals with learning, implementation of multiple support programs, extra support in the form of differentiated instructions, before/after school programs, weekend programs, during holidays, special classes may be conducted to improve reading, writing and mathematical skills or teacher-student coordination could help students perform better and to avoid the necessity of retention. These efforts demand support infrastructure in order to avoid retention of struggling students. References Cannon, J. S., & Lipscomb, S. Early Grade Retention and Student Success. Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_311JCR.pdf. David, J. L. (2008). What Research Says About.../Grade Retention. Reaching the Reluctant Learner, 65(6), 83-84. Garland, S. (2012). Repeating Grades: More States Requiring Students To Be Held Back, Is It The Right Thing To Do? Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/repeating-grades-more-sta_n_1811789.html Jacob, B.A., & Lefgren, L. (2009). The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, 1(3), 33-58. National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). The condition of education: Grade retention Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2006/section3/indicator25.asp. Psychology of Learning. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/SYBA%20Study%20Material/edu-II%20psycho.pdf Roderick, M., & Nagaoka, J. (2005). Retention under Chicagos high-stakes testing program: Helpful, harmful, or harmless? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(4), 309–340. Read More