Crisis in the Classroom: Should students be held back due to learning loss

We keep hearing concerns about learning loss from the pandemic.

Many educators, including our area superintendents, say students are gaining ground.

Fresno Unified's Bob Nelson says students in the district are gaining ground faster than the state average.

But still, if a student is not caught up to the proper benchmarks of learning, why not just hold that child back?

It used to be common back in the 1960s and '70s.

It's far from common, now.

Still, some wonder if allowing students to move ahead to another grade, even when they do not grasp the lesson plans, is creating a crisis in the classroom.

Yes, traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic lessons are important for a child's growth.

But so is finding their place among their peers, which is why many children who should be held back are not.

But what does failing class after class do to a person's self-esteem?

Fresno Unified School Board Trustee Terry Slatic said, "We have kids that we give diplomas to who read, write, and do math at the middle school —or below, sadly — level because they keep falling several percent behind every year."

That's why he supports a more active approach to holding students back.

State legislators agreed and passed AB104, allowing parents to request that their children be held back.

Superintendent Nelson said, “The problem with 104 is, in our experience, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for other people’s children. When it comes to you deciding if you are going to separate your child from their age mates who are going to transition on but you are holding your child back, that’s hard for families to decide.”

This is not intended for all grades, mostly kindergarten through third grade, to help the child remediate core skills they miss the first time around.

Madera Unified Superintendent Todd Lile said, "It is a strategy that’s been used in American education since the beginning so in parents' estimation it must work. What we find all over the world and all over the United States is that turns out not to be true. They don’t grow as a result of doing a year over again."

Instead, what these school district superintendents recommend is a more specific diagnosis of what the child needs to work on.

"We can diagnose what students need, then we can give them what that is," said Lile. "Whether that might be tutoring, small group instruction but there’s a lot of work that can be done that doesn’t require the repeat of an entire year.”

”The only thing that makes this better is ongoing and honest communication," said Nelson. "Sometimes that’s hard telling a parent and a lot of parents are not open to that. They don’t want to hear their child isn’t meeting the elemental benchmarks.”

Mrs. Asklof at Parkwood Elementary in Madera teaches first grade. She says holding back students if they miss a lot of class time may be the right move for some but not for the majority.

“It’s so important to get them in a small group, to get them intervention, to get them as much help as they can when they need it, and the last... the last step ever is to retain a student.”

“I think trustee Slatic has it right," said Neslon. "There was a period of time where we were not steering people toward social promotion and away from retention."

But now, with all these educators have learned through the pandemic is that steering the children toward specialized work, where the child needs it, is the best way to help children get on track and stay on it.

And while most students may not want to hear it, Mrs. Asklof has an important reminder. "I tell them, schools’ supposed to be hard. It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s going to get harder every year."

She also recommends her students always ask questions when they don't understand. She'll often bring classmates to help teach those who are having trouble because sometimes students learn best from their peers.

And learn best in an environment where they feel safe, included, accepted, and understood.

That is why Fresno Unified is beginning a pilot program connecting Fresno students with a college across the country.

Students at Sunnyside, Bullard, and Edison will be able to take college courses, also called dual enrollment, at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

It's part of the HBCU System, historically black colleges and universities.

The online classes will earn these students credits at either this college or at a local community college.

And, in-state tuition, even though the school is across the country.

"We are actually in discussions as well with other historically black colleges and universities about the very real possibility of bringing a brick-and-motor HBCU to Fresno which would be the first brick-and-mortar HBCU site west of Texas," said Superintendent Nelson. "Which for our black collegiate excellent students for them not to have to move to the deep south but still have the uniquely different HBCU experience would be stellar and amazing.”

It would also create another opportunity for students to see a future for themselves in higher education.

If you have a story to tell about a crisis in school or how people are working together to overcome challenges, call us at (559) 302-9242 or email KMPHClassrommTips@gmail.com.

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