School Systems See More Students Repeating Grades

School Systems See More Students Repeating Grades

Some American children struggled to keep up with schoolwork in the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many states saw large increases in the number of students who had to repeat grades.

Traditionally, experts say that repeating a grade can hurt a child's social life and academic future. But many parents have asked for their children to repeat grades to help them recover from the difficulties of online learning¹, quarantines and school worker shortages².

The Associated Press examined data from 26 states plus the District of Columbia on the most recent academic year. It found that 22 of the states, plus D.C., saw an increase in the number of students who were retained³, or held back a year. Three of those states — South Carolina, West Virginia and Delaware — saw the number of retained students more than double.

Pennsylvania passed a law during the pandemic permitting parents to let their children redo classes. The following year, the number of retained students in the state increased by about 20,000.

Kristi Price is the mother of a student in Pennsylvania who repeated a grade. She said it was a great decision for him.

"At first I didn't really want to do it," said her son Braylon, now 13. "But then later in the year I thought it would probably be better for me if I did."

While the family's two daughters were able to keep up with school even with limited classroom time, Braylon struggled. When he went back to in-person school for the first full academic year of the pandemic, he did not perform well. And that winter, Braylon suffered an injury that forced him to return to remote learning.

On his repeat of sixth grade, Braylon had an individualized education program that helped him be more focused. Having more one-on-one attention from teachers helped too. Socially, he said the change was easy. Most of his friends had been in lower grades or attended different schools already.

Education research, however, has been critical of making students repeat grades. Arthur Reynolds is a professor at the University of Minnesota. He said students who are retained are twice as likely to drop out of school.

Kids see it as a punishment, Reynolds said. "It reduces their academic motivation, and it doesn't increase their instructional advancement⁴."

But supporters of retention⁵ say none of the research was done during a pandemic, when many children attended online classes or did not attend at all.

In most places, parents can ask for children to be held back. But the final decision is made by school leaders, who make decisions based on factors like academic progress. California and New Jersey⁶ also passed laws that made it easier for parents to demand their children repeat a grade. But that choice was only available last year.

In Pennsylvania's Fox Chapel⁷ Area School District, two students were retained at the request of educators. Eight other families decided⁸ their students would repeat a grade. Another six discussed the new legislation⁹ with the school but decided against holding their students back.

"As a school district, we take retention very seriously," said Mary Catherine Reljac, who is the head of the district. She said the district involves parents, a team of educators, school counselors¹⁰ and school leaders to help decide what is best for each child.

Price says Braylon's retention helped him receive an individualized education program. The special education plan gave him more support as he attended sixth grade again. Braylon said he felt like the extra support was very important. He said he likes having one-on-one help from teachers sometimes.

"I think because of the pandemic, we, as parents, were able to see how much he was struggling," Price said. "And we were able to recognize...that he needed more help in order to be successful on his own."

Words in This Story

academic — adj. of or relating to schools and education

quarantine — n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease¹¹ from spreading

motivate — v. to give a reason for doing something

advance — v. to move forward

district — n. an area established by a government for official government business

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 retained   

v.保持( retain的过去式和过去分词 )；拦住；保存；止住

参考例句：

• He was smiling, but his eyes retained a look of solemnity. 他脸上挂着笑容，但眼神依旧严肃。
• Nonconformists retained a deep distrust of their Anglican neighbours. 非英国国教者一直不信任圣公会的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

5 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

10 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

11 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。