Overage Students and Social Promotion

In reading an educational-themed blog published by an inner city Chicago teacher, I came across this particular post on the social promotion of students. The writer spoke specifically about a hard-working group of students operating way below grade level in his eleventh grade class. In his classroom setting, compounded by challenges of over-crowding and the negative school culture, he felt he would be unable to realistically move these students 4-5 grade levels in a single year. Therefore, they would fail to be operating at the appropriate grade level at time of promotion. Based on the progress and effort exhibited by these students, should they be promoted to the next grade? I think that his questions are particularly relevant to teachers and administrators in Baltimore City schools.

Where social promotion may arise at all grade levels, I have witnessed it specifically at the middle school level. In my middle school of approximately 600 students, 188 were reported as overage at the start of the 2007-2008 school year, and two of my four classes were comprised of students repeating the grade for the second or third time. Students repeated the grade due to a variety of factors including chronic absence, behavioral issues that substantially interfered with learning, or failure of one or more major subjects. Social promotion was not exercised in the case of many students.

The climate of the school building is influenced strongly by a wide population of students ranging from 11 to 16 years of age. A culture of failure pervaded the classes composed completely of repeating students. While I would not argue that each of these students should have been pushed on if they did not meet grade-level standards, it is important to consider the impact of holding students back to repeat a grade both on the child and on the school. What should be done?

My building is now facing the question of how to appropriately promote students that still may not be where they need to be. We have students that began the year in the sixth grade and will begin next year in the ninth – they have spent about one academic quarter in each grade. Middle school in a single year? I am baffled as to how this is considered a favorable, or even acceptable, plan of action. Ultimately the issue rests in the hands of strong instruction, from early grades to the middle school years. Without such, it can be feared that issues surrounding failure, overage students, and social promotion will continue to exist in our schools.