Schools get tough on promoting students to fourth grade
Tutoring programs pay off
Student retention, requiring a child repeat a year, has always been a subject fraught with
AP controversy and a difficult decision for any caring teacher (“Flunking 3rd-graders a bad fad,” Our view, Education debate, Thursday). However, several conditions today could be adding to reasons some states and districts are considering it:
-F-nding for special education and remediation is a big ticket item for the feds, states and local school districts. And, as we know, those funds are in even shorter supply nowadays. Districts try hard to keep students out of these programs.
-B-dget cuts have forced districts to raise class sizes and cut staff.
-In many other countries, children are not taught to read until they are 6-years-old. We have taken our kindergartens and turned them into first grade. We have a large number of unready children who wind up feeling pressured and disenchanted with school because they aren’t mature enough to grasp what is being taught.
Teachers know that the best time to remediate and assist children with learning problems or those who take longer to grasp concepts is in kindergarten and first grade. Beginning reading skills and math skills cannot just be assumed to be something students will pick up in second and third grades. It’s like starting a race when everyone else is halfway around the track.
Retention is not the best answer, but for overburdened and underfunded public schools, it must seem to be the one they can afford. Sharyn Rothgarn
Ilion, N.Y.
Thank you for mentioning the efficacy of the Reading Recovery Program in your editorial.
I have been teaching Reading Recovery since 1993, and in my experience no program has benefited students more. We are able to save money and add to a child’s self-worth as we boost the literacy rates in our school district. $10,000 per student per year: That’s the average cost of holding a student to repeat a grade.
I am hopeful that we will see more articles in support of this valuable tutoring program. Kudos to your publication! Judyann S. Zerbo
Troy, Mich.
Teaching system already works
Someone should enlighten Manhattan Institute senior fellow Marcus Winters, who advocates retention plus remedial training (“‘Large, sustained positive effect,’ ” Another view, Thursday).
We know how to group students by age and teach each of them according to their various abilities. Having done it for several years in elementary math, I assure you it’s a fairly simple process. Bill Swart, professor emeritus Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, Mich.