If a kid funks a grade, should he redo the grade or be advanced?

My sister didn't pass from 1st grade and took summer school classes and passed onto the second grade. They said she might not have been old enough, being 5 when school started and turning 6 a month later. They didn't have kindergarten back then.
 
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If the teacher employs mastery learning techniques there should be no need for any student to "flunk".

A better question is whether certain children should be accelerated if they are more advanced than their age group. Staying in a grade where they are bored out of their minds is a sure way to turn them off school learning.
 

Too many variables for a single solution.

At what age? 🤔

How many times?🤔

There is something wrong with the system if it allows a child to fall behind enough during the entire year to prevent them from moving up.

I would prefer that kids get additional tutoring, online learning, summer school, etc… that would allow them to remain with their peers.
 
Warrigal said:
If the teacher employs mastery learning techniques there should be no need for any student to "flunk".

A better question is whether certain children should be accelerated if they are more advanced than their age group. Staying in a grade where they are bored out of their minds is a sure way to turn them off school learning.
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I was in an accelerated program and it didn’t really take into account my level of maturity compared with the other kids.

I understand the concern/concept, I’m just not sure how best to handle it.

Like so many things the devil is in the details.
 
My daughter failed a grade and went to summer school instead of repeating the grade. She was rebellious and felt punished by missing out on summer activities, and it didn't help much, since she struggled just as much the next school year. I think she was finally advanced just to move on, since shools are "graded" too by their success rates.
 
Warrigal said:
If the teacher employs mastery learning techniques there should be no need for any student to "flunk".

A better question is whether certain children should be accelerated if they are more advanced than their age group. Staying in a grade where they are bored out of their minds is a sure way to turn them off school learning.
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What if the student didn't apply themselves at all?
 
I was held back I think the 6th grade and it was the best thing to happen to me. It was completely my fault. I clowned and wouldn't study. The school didn't put up with just passing students along. I was shamed and ridiculed by other students. I deserved that and just dealt with it. Then again it was a school on an Air Force base for military families and they didn't play.
 
I was called to the school in late fall of the school year when my younger daughter was in second grade. The teacher sat there and told me that my daughter had emotional problems and needed counseling. She wanted to transfer her to a class with delayed, troubled kids. What??? I asked to see her work and every single assignment had grades of over 100. I told the teacher, "She is bored. She needs to be better challenged." I was told my daughter had already completed all of the work for that school term. They could not give her material for the next year, nor could she spend more time in the library.

That school district did not have an advanced curriculum. I moved to another school district that did. When I asked to have her enrolled in the advanced curriculum, they did not want to place her in that class because it was mid-term. I had had her tested with a psychologist and showed them those documents. They said that since she had been to a psych, she had to go into the slower class. I was livid! I went to the top dog and they finally let her in.

She graduated with high honors from high school and college and is now an MD. The public school systems in the US are awful.
 
Oldeagle66 said:
What if the student didn't apply themselves at all?
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There are ways and means to motivate students to apply themselves.

Mastery learning involves giving a lesson one day and a short test (10 minutes) on that lesson the next day. Students are required to pass the test at 80% correct to pass. Those who miss this mark are told to learn it again and are given the same test again the next day. If they pass, they have mastered the lesson. Any who fail a second time are told that they must have the lesson again during lunch recess and the test will be repeated the day after that. Same pass level and you would be surprised at how quickly they start passing at 80% or more correct.

As time goes on with all of the students engaging in learning the class begins to have confidence in their ability to learn and the curriculum can be worked through more quickly with fewer time wasting behaviours.

It does work. Think about young drivers going for their first driving test. Many fail the first time but they then receive extra tuition and/or experience with each try and eventually almost everyone who wants a licence passes the test.

It is how cubs and scouts earn their achievement badges. Each badge has a standard that they must reach before they qualify for the badge. The tests become more challenging over time.
 
GoodEnuff said:
I had had her tested with a psychologist and showed them those documents. They said that since she had been to a psych, she had to go into the slower class. I was livid! I went to the top dog and they finally let her in.

She graduated with high honors from high school and college and is now an MD. The public school systems in the US are awful.
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Omigosh, @GoodEnuff, I would have been livid, too! Good for you for fighting on behalf of your bright daughter.

I am not a fan of the public schools here in the States. The ones in Nevada and here in North Dakota seem particularly bad.

@Warrigal, the procedure you described sounds great.

That said, I think if a child flunks a grade, he/she flunks a grade. My older daughter had to repeat kindergarten, mostly because I hadn't prepared her at all, and she was born in August and thus was a young kindergartener.

I had no idea how different kindergarten is now from 'way back when I attended. I went to half-day kindergarten that basically comprised snack time, nap time, and coloring. When my older daughter went, all the kids could write their names, etc., and had mastered the basic skills. I'm sure these days it's even more advanced. I made sure my younger daughter and my son were better prepared.
 
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Something I have heard the newer child bearing age generation do around here is waiting and starting boys a year later in school because they don't mature at the same rate as girls. Gives them an extra year to catch up.
 
When I was in High school we had two guys in our graduating class that were 20 years old because they had had to repeat a couple of grades which was the practice back then. I think the way it worked backed then was after being held back twice you just got socially promoted after that. That way you didn't have 35 year old High School students. They were both still dumber than a bag of hammers but I suppose they would have been worse if they had been socially promoted all along.
 
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Usually, in NJ, if a kid flunks his/her grade, we have summer school with classes on the emphasis of the areas the children require extra help to advance to the next grade.

Of course, this doesn't always work. I was 12yrs. old in the 8th grade and there were 2 boys aged 17 in my class. Now, I had skipped a year and one half which was why I was so young for that grade level. Socially, at first, it made a difference to me. But, I also had to work a tad harder to catch up what I did not have in the grade before me.

It didn't bother the 2 guys, though. Our principal, a tough educator, was determined they were at least going to have an elementary school diploma. They did not qualify for special ed classes, as they were just lazy.
 
My oldest son, honestly never applied himself in school (for a personal vendetta) but after getting F's & D's the 1st part of the year
put himself in gear juuuuuust enough to get passing grades to stay with his friends. Used to drive me bonkers that boy.
The teachers all knew he was capable by talking to him, even liked him! He'd do extra credit stuff with glee, he just hated
the hum drum organic daily studies he has explained to me after he turned 30.
If they would have held him back, I think he would have quit or began a career in truancy classes for his pals.
 
There's no kindergarten requirement in Texas. The year a child becomes age 6 by September 1st, is the year they are required to start school, which, at that age, would generally be 1st grade, and continuing education is mandatory from there on until graduation, or age 19, whichever comes first. My daughter left Texas before age 19 without completing school, and sometime after that got a GED.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
If a kid funks a grade, should he redo the grade or be advanced?
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I'm not an Education professional, but I think a close examination should be made to determine a child's failure. Perhaps some tutoring or other special effort to bring the child up-to-speed with the curriculum that the child is having difficulty with.

When I was in the early grades I was struggling, was in the bottom reading and math classes. Turns out, once the teaching staff became aware of my being Left-handed, they stopped forcing me to write Right-handed. Huge improvement, instantly became tops in reading and math.
 

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