Keeping Kids in School

School for most children begins when they attain the age of five years in
kindergarten and conclude following their senior year at the age of eighteen. By retaining
a child a school year we alter this growth cycle, thus creatng teenage "adults" who may
drop out of high school rather than complete their senior year. New evidence proves slow
learners do not need retention; they need assisted education.
Despite the varying cutoff dates for kindergarten enrollment in every state, the
policy "A child must be five years old on or before the cutoff date" remains throughout.
Some children attaining five years old after the states' cutoff date will have to wait an
extra year before enrolling into kindergarten. A child attaining five years old before the
cutoff date will be in the same classroom as the child who turned five years old after the
cutoff date of the previous year. The initial child is approximately eleven months younger
than the latter child.
Children, learning at their pace within their growth cycle, will comprehend the
teacher’s lessons at different intervals. The accelerated student may learn rather quickly,
whereas the slower, or younger, student may require more repetition until his growth cycle
reaches the level of comprehension. There will always be a youngest and an oldest
regardless of the grade level; therefore the curriculum of the teacher focuses on the
average learner. Inevitably the slower learner will fall behind in his studies.
Parents are being influenced to retain a slower learner, altering them from being
the youngest in their current grade to being the oldest in the grade below. This idea also
found it’s way into kindergarten. Parents began holding children, particularly those with
fifth birthdays in the few months before enrollment, out of school an extra year "in hopes
of giving them an academic advantage” (Rusch 129).
As children reached the third grade, achievement test results were calculated and
the findings were surprising. In 1995, researchers found in a study conducted at the State
University of New York at Albony, "Almost eighteen percent of those who started a year
late were eventually placed in special education.” (Rusch 132) According to Lorrie
Shepard, a professor of education the University of Colorado at Boulder and co-author of
Flunking Grades: Research and Policies on Retention; the “younger students typically fall
behind their older classmates, but the disparities are not that great- an average of seven to
eight points on achievement tests. Her research also showed any advantage children may
gain by being older when they enter kindergarten fades by the third grade" (Jacobson 21)
In adolescence, which typically occupies the eighth through twelth grade, a
'rebellious' teenager struggles with independence from family, establishing their identity,
and in prepairng for a career. A study conducted in 1997 was published in Pediatrics, the
journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study showed that almost 20 percent
of students who entered kindergarten a year late or were held back a grade "had behavior
problems in adolescence including excessive crying, losing their temper, cheating, and
lying”(Rusch 130)
Robert Byrd, MD states kids who are older than their classmates may act out as
teens because they are bored with school. They may feel out of step knowing they are a
year older than everyone else in their grade. Reaching puberty earlier than their peers
could add to their stress. Other studies show teenagers who are old for their grade are
more likely to smoke, drink, use drugs, think about suicide, fight, and have unsafe sex.”
(Rusch 130).
Most school policies allow teenagers at the age of sixteen to drop-out. A child already
having difficulty in school may choose this path with the intent to pursue their General
Education Development (G.E.D.) certificate. Most states claim the legal age of adulthood
is eighteen. A teenager retained a grade, entering their senior year at the age of eighteen,
may feel they are an adult and no longer need the "childhood education”.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 64 percent of boys and 70 percent
of girls are likely to continue their education in college. A third of all students choose not
to continue.
Given the above facts, many parents with slower learners are in question as to
alternatives of retention. Schools have been placing slower learners in Special Education.
However, this program is only available to children that are already two years behind in
school. The number of special education teachers in school is severely lacking for the
number of students requiring assisted education.
According to “An Educators Guide to Schoolwide Reform” three programs, Direct
Instruction, High Schools That Work, and Success for all "have strong evidence that they
improve student achievement" (Olson 14)
The oldest of these programs, Direct Instruction, 'was developed in the early
sixties by Seigfried Englemann and Carl Bereiter". In 1968, a study known as US.
Department of Education Follow-Through Project used Direct Instruction and twelve
other programs to determine how children learn most effectively. After many children
maneuvered their way through the programs, the results were calculated according to
achievement by third grade. In 1976, "Direct instruction scored the highest in every
measurement of this study.” (Rosenberger)
Direct Instruction is only available in one hundred fifty schools throughout the
United States. This program will help those slower learners, allowing for more repetition,
with a 99.6 percent success rate. Direct Instructions philosophy is "that all children can
learn successfully when taught carefully." The one teacher to one student ratio allows for
more repetition until a child can comprehend the lesson. Each session usually lasts an
hour a day, three days a week. Direct Instruction guarantees children will advance at least
a grade level in basic academic skills such as reading, spelling, and math within thirty
lessons.
Schools today are not equipped with enough teachers trained at every child's
educational level. Teachers and parents need to be increasingly aware, not only of the
effects of retention, but also of the alternatives. All children can learn if they are taught in
a manner consistent with their abilities.

Work Cited:
 Jacobson, Linda; "Cutoff Date for Kindergarten Again Debated"; Education Week
Volume XVI, Number 36; June 4, 1997; Pages 1,21
 Olson, Lynn; "Researchers Rate Whole-School Reform Models"; Education Week
Volume XVIII, Number 23; February 17, 1999; Pages 1,14+
 Rosenberger, Deborah; "Children Catching Their Dreams"; Women's Magazine;
March 1999
 Rusch. Liz; "Delaying Kindergarten"; Parents; April 1998; Pages 129-132