Retention of students during the pandemic may not be a good idea. With students in school and remote, his pandemic does not provide students a chance to recover from failing grades. There does not appear to be a disaster plan to give students a chance to recover from failure. Failure rates are high in many school districts. This is nearly double that in previous years. Unfortunately, the rate is focused on low-income students.
Many parents and educators question the culture of letter grades during this dire time. The concern comes at a time as students are influences by factors that are not in their control. However, many schools report several students are failing classes. Thus, there is a higher number of at-risk students than usual. Many students with the threat of failure are not only from low-income families. They are English language learners and students with disabilities.
As educators are not able to always see their students in person, they are not able to get a handle on which ones are falling behind. Missing or incomplete assignments aren’t always the fault of the student. Thus, an increase in failing grades is seen in many school districts.
Avoid Retention
Schools try to combat students’ failing grades through an attempt to return to in-person learning. Additionally, some schools change the system of giving grades to students. Or, they give more time to students that have missing assignments. Finally, some simply cut back on assignments and/or do not give a zero for unfinished work. Therefore, failure is not an option.
Failing grades usually point to a problem. Educators understand that parents need to be aware of the problem and find strategies to help the situation. Again, this places another burden upon teachers.
Additionally, teachers are willing to tutor students that fall behind. However, this is only happening in about 10 percent of schools. Thus, teachers need guidance to create tutoring sessions. To quote Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
During this pandemic, all children are behind what they would normally achieve in the classroom. Educators and parents have to work together to close the new academic gap.
