Columnist Bill Hanlon: Retaining a student should be wake-up call for parents, kids

BILL HANLON is a school district administrator and a member of the State Board of Education. He can be reached on the Internet at bhanlon@ accessnv.com.

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH SUGGESTS that holding students back does little to help them academically or socially, and results in higher dropout rates.

Some educators also have placed a great deal of emphasis on children's self-esteem. Both of these attitudes and the policies generated from them are coming under more scrutiny in the last couple of years.

I've always believed that self-esteem is earned through accomplishment. If you want to build self-esteem in a child, you help them learn skills, master knowledge and meet challenges. You teach the importance of persistence. The idea that constantly praising or rewarding students for little things will make them feel better about themselves is just not true. Children are smarter than that.

There is a growing notion that students should be retained if they are not performing up to academic expectations. While research does not support retention, I believe that students who choose not to apply themselves should be kept back a grade. I believe it sends a message to that person that education is important and should not be squandered. I also believe it sends a message to marginal students to either get their butts in gear or face possible retention. Fear is a powerful motivator.

At one high school, parents and students went into shock this year when they were notified of the student's class status. Many who had been in high school for three or four years found out they were classified as freshmen and sophomores, based on the number of credits they had earned. That should have been a wake-up call for many of those families.

A bill passed during the last session of the Legislature requires students earn credits in junior high to be able to move into high school. That might serve as an earlier wake-up call for parents next year. Those who don't earn the credits don't go on.

I have no problem not passing students into high school who have not achieved at appropriate levels. I do have a problem keeping older students in middle schools with young ones. Younger students do not need to have a negative influence in their midst.

One solution is to have a prep school at the end of eighth grade for those not ready for high school. There they would be remediated so that at the end of one year, they will be able to go onto high school with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful.

A similar policy could be put in effect in elementary schools. Students not performing up to grade level at the end of fourth grade could be placed in a special fifth-grade class. Dual goals could be remediating the students and keeping them on track with their peers. Those students not able to to meet grade-level expectations by the end of the fifth grade should be considered for retention. That would give elementary students a year to catch up.

That type of program would call for teachers who have the knowledge and skills to teach students who have not had success in schools. There would be tremendous pressure to get these students up to grade level during that time.

During the first year that a retention policy is put into effect in the state or district, I'm sure there would be a lot of students who would have to be held back. But those numbers will decrease once kids and their parents see the students are going to be held to higher standards.

While research suggests that retention doesn't work, we have clearly proven that just passing them on to the next grade doesn't work either.

Since socioeconomic status is one of the leading indicators of poor academic performance, it's clear that we have to get the attention of parents so they will pay attention to the educational needs of their children. Programs to help students succeed also need a component that will help parents help their children.

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