The Injustice of social promotions

In June, students will be promoted to the next grade while seniors will be graduating. Most will have earned the right to move up. Sadly many of them will move up regardless of their ability as “social promotions.” This practice is a blight on the school system and must cease if we are to do justice to the students who are socially promoted.

Despite having achieved failing grades and with full knowledge that the students will be unable to perform satisfactory work in the next grade, teachers will give social promotions. Should we blame teachers, parents, the school system, the general public? Truthfully speaking, all of them are to blame. All are encouraging “educational malpractice.”
But why is it done?

Several popular reasons given are: student alienation, damage to their psyches, increased dropout rates, lack of classroom space, lack ~ funds for intensive remedial teaching, and lack of teachers to handle the number of students stacking up. Retention is expensive, and putting teenagers back into elementary school is not feasible. So the system merely shoves them onward.

A large body of past research shows clearly that children who repeat a grade are 20 to 40 percent more likely to become discouraged and drop out of school. While it is true that test results should not be the only basis for deciding whether a student advances to the next grade or whether a student should graduate, it must be determined exactly what should the student be able to accomplish to warrant passing.

If schools are mandated to teach reading. writing. math and thinking, and the student fails to master them, should he move on or be placed in a remedial environment or be allowed to drop out? Currently the law allows students to drop out of school either at sixteen or if they complete the eighth grade and are fourteen.

We do more harm and injustice to a student by handing him a high school diploma as a false statement of his ability when he has not earned it. It is as though your doctor decides to give you a false diagnosis of your illness because he doesn’t want to hurt your feelings.

It has been estimated that over 300 students at Hopwood Junior High School cannot read above the third grade level with many of them at the first and second grade levels. These students are 12 to 15 years old. MHS has almost 80 percent students at risk. Are we going to keep lying to them until they graduate with a meaningless piece of paper?
How many more below grade level reading, writing, math and thinking students are in the elementary schools?

Perhaps there is an alternative. Although possessing the intelligence needed, students fail because they are not sufficiently motivated to learn. Being immature and “street smart” coupled with the prowess of youth, they resist all efforts and threats to learn.
Perhaps they should drop out for several years, get some real-life experience and then be allowed to return to continue their education after maturing a bit.

Having experienced reallife with its harsh realities, these drop outs will be motivated to return to school with a desire and purpose they do not possess at an earlier age. Those that do not return will somehow fare as well as the students who receive a meaningless high school diploma.

Let’s stop giving “social promotions.” Instead of lying to students, be truthful to them.
This no-social promotion policy will send a powerful signal to students, families and the general public that poor educational achievement is unacceptable as is poor job performance in the workplace. Study or you fail.