Social Promotion

The Common-School model is one in which the school system is set up in order to allow all students an equal education. The disparities between social classes would, theoretically, be eliminated by this normalization. The Sorting-Machine model recognizes that all students are not created equal. Teachers, counselors, and standardized tests would be used to impartially “overcome the influence of family background” (Spring, 2012, p. 59). Finally, the High-Stakes testing model is based on the notion that schools can “give everyone an equal chance to learn and to be tested without cultural bias” (Spring, 2012, p. 63). Standardized tests are used for all forms of advancement and placement from grade-level promotions to professional credentialing. These models are used side-by-side, to some degree, in our 21st century implementation of public education.

For example, my very intelligent child had been labeled as a “trouble maker” at a young age. He could not sit still in Kindergarten and focus on lessons. He had not yet developed these skills that were expected of him. Children are designed for movement and play. In a formal school setting, these natural impulses are stifled and pushed aside to obtain high test scores. The school system is designed to create a model student conformed to produce model citizens.

The school is the secondary agent of socialisation that children introduced to throughout growing up. School socialises children in many different ways. Children in this period of socialisation (The School) learn to become a productive member of the society, formal set of skills and knowledge such as writing, reading and maths, and strength their socials abilities by interacting with colleagues and schoolteachers. But mainly children learn that in society everyone’s equal regardless of how special they’re in their families. (Barkan 2012, p. 127)

The “average” child is possibly the most wounded child in our school systems. These students often come away feeling that they are not smart and that their abilities are set in stone. Many experience shame that results in

It is doubtless that most of parents want their children get a well-rounded education which will lead children to a successful future. Some parents believe that the obligation of educating their children only belong to schools, whereas parental involvement is definitely important to their children’s education. For those parents who are willing to spend money and energy on getting involved into their

A fifth grader may come in at a “second-grade level” and graduate at a “fourth-grade level,” which is a tremendous achievement on the part of the educators; however, because standardized testing fails to account for such circumstances, the entire year would be seen as a failure from the perspective of the state (Berger). To put it crudely, “poor schools can’t win at standardized testing” because students in areas of poverty start school academically behind and are unable to catch up as there is the lack of resources and funding (Broussard). On the other extreme, gifted students are also hurt by attempts to standardize education, for instance, with the No Child Left Behind Act, an act that many say has “failed our adolescents” (Steinberg). Teachers say that the legislation has resulted in a “race to the middle” that means “talented students have their potential squandered” as schools “[don’t] foster growth” (Weller). In effect, standardization attempts to remove individuality from learning and ignores that students have different capacities for learning, that some students may need more help while others need to be challenged above their grade level - instead it averages it all out to a “standard” that harms both

How can we solve this concern? Scott does not reveal this because there is no real fix. Even though we know the problem it would be almost impossible to change the system at this point, it would then mean to change our entire culture. If we did not have set standards to distinguish those who are proficient then, there would be chaos. This article leaves the reader with a sense of being incapable to change the educational system. However, this article was created to try to transform the “system”, but just allow us to be aware of this “conditioning”. “…do what you have to do in order to fulfill the requirements and move on” (Scott 156). This quote allows the reader to realize what the school system really is; a bureaucratic structure while, giving the opportunity to self-assess our identity and express with

School systems sometimes make promises they have no intention of keeping. Other times, they can deliver a world of opportunities to our neediest children. They may or may not want to listen to parents or even teachers, but school systems always attend to the demands of the most powerful individuals and institutions in their communities. (Koonce, 2016, p. 204).

Grade retention, the act of holding students back a grade, often occurs during the early stages of schooling. During the early stages of education, students look to their parents and teachers to instill the importance of education. It is essential that early on students have support from their parents and teachers, working together to motivate and teach the skills necessary to succeed in school. However, many factors can lead to early grade retention, which later influences a student’s future education.

Years ago, children used to spend most of their time with their parents. They worked with their families on the farm, in a shop, or learning their father’s trade. Girls worked alongside their mothers, helping with household chores, doing laundry, helping with younger siblings and cooking and baking. Most children were also schooled in their own homes and so children saw their parents all day long. It was easy for a parent to be a part of their children’s life and have influence over them. Now, children enter day care or early pre-school and are in school all day long. At first children are more influenced by parents when they are young, but become more influenced by their friends as they get older unless parents make a major effort to be a

“Our educational goal [is] the production of caring, competent, loving, lovable people” . The students found in the schools across the United State are the future of America. They are the doctors, teachers, business people, lawyers and many other roles, that will be out in the workforce in the years to come. What they learn in school will impact them immensely; it is the responsibility of a teacher to give students the best education in order to ensure the common good of the future. It is essential for students to not only learn content matter, but also the skills to enable them to participate in a democracy. Due to standardized testing, the emphasis of education has become on score and rankings rather than learning. A standardized test does not look at the whole student, the scores provided are on a very narrow aspect of education. In the classroom, there are countless ways for teachers to assess the student as a whole person not as just a score. Standardized tests scores should not be the sole criteria for determining a student’s academic achievement.

According the most recent national assessment recorded in the Washington post, “the nations high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performances since 2009.” In the most recent years, education has taken a huge downfall. Since 2010, over 45% of students drop out. Many students have problems with the grading system, so many different testing programs and having to follow a set of rules and not expand on those rules. The education system needs to induce more creativity, enforce the ways on how education is important and elaborate more on the rules of grading.

In today’s generation, high school kids can take college level classes in high school. Before they can take these classes, they have to pass several placement test to decide what level of education they are at. Placement tests now decide where and what we can do in life; they’re suppose to show “how smart” someone is in school. Even though placement tests are important, it has been proven that there are problems with not only the tests but how the teachers in elementary schools teach/prepare the students.

Is social promotion a better alternative? It undermines students' futures when they fail to develop critical study and job related skills. A Denton, 2001:U.S. Department of Education, 1999 study offered some alternative strategies. These strategies are: intensity learning, provide professional development to assure skilled teachers, expand learning options, asses students in a manner to assist teachers and intervene in time to stop poor attendance. Some might argue that this practice pushes a student. It makes them realize they need to study harder to learn what the next lesson holds. The problem is how can you learn something new if you don't understand the old. Many argue that learning is much like building blocks, while others feel you can learn new concept as it comes along. This may be a 40\40 split but what about the 20% that don't fit in anywhere. They are usually our dropouts.

Schools are and will forever be learning institutions, but learning isn’t limited to purely comprehension and fact memorization that can be found in books. Furthermore, knowledge is an unquantifiable metric and similarly, grades and scores have a multitude of factors that could affect the results. This is not to devalue good academic standing but rather raising a question of “Do we want to develop students holistically or