Defending a ‘Gift’
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- December
- 28
There are consequences to grade retention, more commonly known as “getting left back.” They’re discussed in this position paper from the National Association of School Psychologists. The paper stated that, among other things, retention was associated with increases in behavioral problems and had negative impacts on student achievement.
A reader today forwarded me a link to the position paper in response to my story on the Gift of Time program at the East Ramapo school district. The program allows students who struggled in first or second grade an extra year to strengthen reading, writing and math skills before moving on the next grade.
I called East Ramapo superintendent Mitchell Schwartz to talk about the paper. His response? That GOT is different from traditional retention and that the program should result in “confident learners.”
“There are two things in education research that have stood the test of time and are probably the most valuable findings: One is early intervention and the other is more time with skilled instructors  those are the two things that, without fail, are always proven to help kids succeed,” he said. GOT, Schwartz said, has both.
“It’s not just a rehash of the previous grade,” he said.
This entry was posted
on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 3:48 pm by Alice Gomstyn.
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