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Young students need extra help
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Posted on Mar 11 1999
Quality teachers, student to teacher ratio and instruction leadership are the three conditions that will direct learning in the Public School System, according to Commissioner of Education Rita H. Inos.
She identified these three conditions needed in a child’s education after a discussion on “social promotion” was heard during the Committee on Instruction, Assessment and Accreditation meeting held Tuesday.
“We do have directions on what we want our kids to know and these are some of the conditions that will help us. When we speak of the instruction, we speak of delivery,” she said.
Inos said PSS will need to work with a large number of student population based on existing data that recorded their performance on reading, Math and language. PSS gathers its data from SAT 9 and reading examinations.
The learning survey says lower grades, from kindergarten to grade 3, need extra help. By grade 4, learning begins to pick up, she said.
The question on whether social promotion from kindergarten to grade 3 will actually encourage their progress in school is still a heated debate issue.
Certain officials said PSS will need to work at the level of the child and learning in kindergarten up to grade 3 takes into account family background and exposure. To delay their promotion to another grade may work against these young students.
“The bottom line is that we see a picture at the lower grade and we need to focus where these learning gaps exist,” Inos said.
Board member Anthony Pellegrino proposed to shift student performance evaluation from a system-wide picture to focus on each school. He also suggested to accommodate remedial sessions during intercession and summer.
