Curving Grades
Should we follow what many school boards advocate and pass students on in order to keep them moving forward, or should we hold the students accountable for their work and effort and hold them back? Unfortunately, as time has progressed, it is my opinion that many students have not honed the skills that they were supposed to master in that year. Even though they have not met the grade standards, however, they move on..............putting them even more behind and making it harder for them to make connections and understand even new material.
In middle school math (specifically 7th grade) I have come face to face with students who do not even understand the concept of isolating a variable, and opposite operations which should’ve been a skill honed in 6th grade. Unfortunately, these students don’t have the math skills for 6th and 7th grade and they are now being pushed into 8th grade. I suggest that these students are being failed by the system. Parents and the school board are afraid of what it means to be "held back" or "to go to summer school" when indeed, I suggest, that there is no harm in holding a child back or having them go to summer school. I suggest that all this means is that the student needs more time to understand all the concepts and math material being taught to them.
As an educator what would you do? Stand your ground and have the student repeat the year to understand the material for their grade or be a part of the system that keeps pushing them on?
What are your thoughts?
Students should be required to reach a certain level before entering into the next grade. Pushing a student into the next grade when they have no understanding of the skills already taught is only going to make it harder for the student to catch up. When students enter a next grade, they are building upon skills they have already learned and mastered. If there is no understanding of these skills, they have nothing to build on and will continue to get more confused.
ReplyDeleteAs an educator, all you want to see is your students succeed, no matter what it takes. This may not be the case for school board and parents who will have to spend money/time on extra schooling for the students. Important topics like isolating a variable are important to not only a student's academic career, but a person's life in the long run. Also, specifically in math, a lot of the concepts are scaffolded, which will hurt the student if they do not understand just one topic. I would take the higher road and try to fight for at least tutoring for the students, and being held back when necessary.
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