Where do I go from here?

Schools are very big on retaining but this practice is not supported by the research.

I would do some searches on retaining children in school and present that research to the school.

If she is catching up and you feel that her self esteem would suffer from retaining I would not do it.

Most research shows that retaining a child past kindergarten does more harm than good. Giving the same instruction all over again rarely does any good and your daughter will probably be bored. Given the good progress she has made I would keep her in resource, get tutoring over the summer and go into third grade. My daughter is going into the third grade and barely reads on second grade level. We are fighting for an effective reading program to be used in her resource class. In math she is on a third grade six months level. She would be devastated if we retained her.

What did the school district base their decision on? Anytime the school district indicates the change in an IEP they must provide prior written notice. I would ask the school district to place their basis for their decision in writing. This would allow you to see what they base their decision on. Her past history indicates she can learn with the proper intervention so what is the need to retain her? What tests, instruments, data or observation did they use to come up with their decision?

Regarding summer school or extended school year the basis for extended school year are based on: regression and recoupment, degree of progress, emerging skills and breakthrough opportunities, interfering behavior, nature and or severity of the disability and special circumstances. Based on the fact that your child has shown some remarkable progress I would suggest that you bring up the emerging skills and breakthrough opportunities as well as regression and recoupment.

It appears that the school district just wants to retain your child so that they will not have to work as hard to bring her up to grade level for the upcoming grade. To leave her in second grade would be easy for them since she is grade level at second grade. This would mean they would not have to work as hard with her. I would take a look at the standards and benchmarks for your state and school district and base my goals and objectives for the upcoming year. Have them provide your daughter with enough accomodations, modifications and or related services to be able to assist her to to be able to try and achieve grade level standards.

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I believe that if her teachers are recommending a tutor for the summer, the school system is responsible to provide that tutor under ESY. The question is: do you have that in writing or on tape? School systems are very reluctant to provide ESY, and especially individualized ESY - they will probably try to stick her in regular summer school, with no individualized instruction.

And yes, the school system has a responsibility to teach her in a manner that she can learn. She has shown excellent progress. If she makes the same amount of progress next school year, she will be caught up to her peers by the end of the year - why retain?

Lil

Hi, Gina.

This is off the cuff and not thought out so take it with a block of salt.

The progress in reading sounds very good! The writting confuses me a bit. It’s good that she progressed. Does it to say that she progressed one year, one month in writting during a one year period of time? If so she is holding her own but not closing the gap?

What specific goals are written into her IEP?

Thanks,

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Writing lags behind reading for all - LD/learning differences or not. So child and school may be working on writing, but for my dd, she didn’t take off in writing till we specifically addressed it after we closed the gap in reading.

(My dd’s bonehead school tested my dd’s reading comprehension via a written test which even the district sp ed director remarked “Are they *thinking* over there at that school, why didn’t they test her orally?”).

I’d also say no to retention and do whatever it takes to secure - through school or private - continued help so that the child continues to make (significant) progress. Suggesting retention in light of the progress (don’t special ed committees love helping kids who demonstrate progress?) makes me very wary about that school and the experience level of whomever suggested it.

And I loved the note about the *bonehead* testing. Duh…..

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Gina,

I think when you consider that many regular kids and all kids with an IEP are behind in something, schools do not have an obligation to provide summer services in most cases. Parents do have some responsibility to see that their children get what they need during the summer. As someone already posted, there has to be evidence that there would be significant regression if the child did not have these services. I do not think your child would lose the skills she has already attained given some review in the fall. Certainly as a parent I would provide private tutoring during the summer to help her catch up. I am sure her teachers are concerned that she will go to the next grade struggling. But if you can assure them you will get some private tutoring so her skill levels will be higher when school starts back, they should not be able to force you to retain. Incidentally, I did have my own child (with auditory processing disorder) repeat first grade this year for several reasons. One is that I didn’t want her to be at the bottom of her class forever. Repeating first gave her a chance to increase her reading skills so that she is no longer at the bottom of the class. So my point is, teachers who recommend retention usually want to see a child have a chance to catch up becuase they know the next year’s curriculum will be even harder.

I am reserved about retention but favor it in K when a child is young, immature, and has not achieved K objectives, and in first when a child is reading far below his peers. That does not mean I’d leave the problems to the school to fix, however, as that is generally best done privately (faster and with effective methods).

Janis

Absolutely in K - rarely after. Our twins both repeated K at our request (one was later identified as LD, but the other has no obvious difficulties). But both were premature infants with summer birthdays, and repeating K gave them both a valuable leg up.

However, I would never have agreed to it afterwards, unless there was some very clear and convincing evidence that something was going to be very different (if, for instance, the school was going to implement a strictly monitored research-based reading program just in that particular grade that had been proven through published research to be of great help to other children with deficits similar to my child’s). The current research just doesn’t back up that retaining children after K is effective. Educators should know this.

JAO

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She’s working hard and making progress - so why would re-doing the year help?
Yes, they should find the summer help she needs but our experience is you may have to take up the slack and provide it yourself. A really skilled tutor who can teach to her problem and is willing to customize her approach to your child’s needs can really make great strides. If you can afford it, 4 sessions a week with some homework on stuff that really homes in on the areas she needs, can work wonders.

Your child is willing to work, not burned out with boredom or dumb-downess. Seize the moment, if you can.

As to the research and effectiveness of retention-most educators DO know the score. Its not news that retention is ineffective past Kindergarten. Ahh, but it is easy and it certainly is cheap.

The bigger problem is finding the right tutor, good luck in your hunt.

Yes, you can reject the schools reccommendations. I would suspect she doesn’t meet the school’s criteria for retention either,being that she is on grade level. I would ask for their criteria in writing,just ask for a copy of their policy on what criteria they base a student retention on.When you refuse their reccomendation,this will help you.

I surely hope their suggestion of a summer tutor is in writing. If it isn’t I would ask them to put it in writing. You are absolutley right it is their responsibility to provide ESY,extended school year services. As a matter of fact under the law they must discuss the need for ESy at the IEP meeting. Was this the meeting? Is this what they are reccomending? That you obtain a tutor and that she be held back? How much of this is in writing?

What do you want for your daughter? Do you want summer school? She is on grade level,ironicly her story sounds so familiar. My youngest is CAPD,he is also ADHD,Gifted,and dysgraphic. I did agree in Kindergarten to hold him back,but this made little difference for him. He went on to 1st nothing,went onto to 2nd and BAM started reading and went up to grade level that school year. Reading hasn’t been an issue since. Go figure.

This is a hard question. I’d ask when her birthday is in relation to her classmates? I’d also want to know what the teachers’ game plan is. What is it they see happening? What is the average reading level of her classmates? 2.6 isn’t that far off grade level so without more information, it’s hard to know what they might be thinking of. I’d press them to state their reasons for recommending this and what they see for the end of next year.

If they say with this adjustment they would believe her ready to go on and be successful in school, I’d consider it.

Schools sadly don’t have the responsibility to find or provide summer programs. What kind of a tutor do they want her to have? As tutoring is always expensive, don’t let them casually make that suggestion to you. Tutoring can be very helpful but it can also be a waste of time and money so again I’d press them as to what they’re thinking. If it’s reading they want her tutored in, what approach do they want that tutor to have? How is reading taught in the school?

To improve reading skills, I’d have her reading 20 minutes a day in books that are very comfortable for her to read. I’d also read outloud to her every day.

Good luck.