NM House approves end to student social promotion

[The Straight Story]

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Third-graders lacking basic reading skills will be held back rather than moving to the next grade under a proposal approved by the House on Tuesday.

The legislation is part of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's plan for improving public schools.

Supporters of the measure say students who can't read by the third grade are likely to struggle in later grades and will be at a high risk of dropping out of school

....

Under current law, parents can overrule a school that wants to retain a student rather than promoting them to the next grade. The legislation will eliminate a parental veto when students reach the third grade — ending a practice known as "social promotion."

http://www.necn.com/03/01/11/House-approves-end-to-student-social-pro/landing_politics.html?&blockID=3&apID=b0bf174eb7ea454d81efbb27e2edff7f

[RKP5637]

1. This makes sense to me. I recall when I was in school decades ago kids being

held back in early years for not having/demonstrating basic skills.

[WolverineDG]

2. That used to drive me nuts when I was a teacher

the district had a "no fail" policy until the students hit high school. Didn't matter if the kid hadn't learned to read or write on grade level & spent the entire year being a PITA in the classroom instead of learning, they just got passed along until it was way too late. And even then, we couldn't give any grade lower than a 50.

dg

[Jmaxfie1]

3. Have to agree also, it is better to catch it early on when it is easier to change...

than waiting till High School. It would be best of course to get at risk kids more tutoring so they would not be held back in the first place, but with budget cuts in most States this is not likely. :(

[SoCalDem]

5. Tutoring with paid tutors..yes!

Here's the little scam our high school tried to pull ..This was AP calculus, mind you..

They divided the class into 5 groups of students, with each group having a "leader".. All the kids got THREE grades in class (to be averaged)

test scores (individual)
homework (individual)
and an averaged GROUP score that counted for 1/3 of each student's final grade

My son was tutoring his ASS off so that his group grade was also an "A".. He also played varsity football, Club Soccer and varsity soccer..

I complained to the teacher as did a few other parents & they removed that "group" grade thing..

[Jmaxfie1]

6. Wow...that's funky n/t

[SoCalDem]

7. I was furious to see our sleep-deprived kid in our family room

most nights tutoring 5 or 6 kids

[Jmaxfie1]

8. really, I'd be really pissed too!!! n/t

[WolverineDG]

9. Oh that's BS

I hated group work when I was a student because what would happen was I & maybe one other person would end up doing all the work while everyone else goofed off. In my senior year, I was told to my face by the "group leader" that I was going to do all the hard work while everyone else did the easy stuff. I was sent to the office for the first time *ever* for my response "NO FUCKING WAY!" Later, in the principal's office, I told the teacher what had happened & why I didn't think it was fair that I had to do all the work while everyone else screwed around & got a good grade because of me. She asked if I could do the entire project on my own & I said I could. That was the end of "group work" for me.

In theory, group work is a good idea, teaching kids to work together & brainstorm. In practice, not so much, because you get lazy assholes (who btw had already spent much of the year making fun of me for being a good student) dumping everything on 1 or 2 people & then taking all the credit.

dg

[SoCalDem]

4. This is a good thing..

Passing kids because they are "tall" or are troublemakers is NOT a good thing..

[WolverineDG]

10. oh, but think of their self-esteem

we can't damage their self-esteem!!!!

Left out of that particular whine is what are you going to do about their "self-esteem" when they get out in the real world & realize they can't read.

dg