New Policy Leaves Teachers to Figure Out How

City schools trustees approved a new promotion-retention policy Tuesday that is strong on general statements, but short on such specifics as how teachers can make a major difference for students who are not doing well in school.

The policy instructs elementary schools to notify parents earlier if children have problems--within 18 weeks for kindergarten through second grade, and within nine weeks for grades three to six--and to talk with parents more consistently about what can be done to help their children.

At the junior- and senior-high levels, the district will eliminate “F” grades and replace them with “no credit,” and will allow students to take the higher of two grades if they repeat, eliminating the existing averaging process.

The change is meant to show a “more positive” attitude toward students having difficulty in school by telling them that an initial poor academic effort will not be held against them if they try harder a second time, Supt. Tom Payzant said.

But the policy contains no details on what schools should do differently with students in danger of falling behind, especially in reading at the elementary level, or on the verge of dropping out of school at the secondary level. The lack of specifics results both from a desire to give individual schools more autonomy in their curriculum and teaching, and from a shortage of money, Payzant conceded.

“We can’t use the excuse of a lack of resources” not to do better, but teachers justifiably say that, to do major interventions, “they need different strategies, (smaller) class size, more materials,” Payzant said.

“Over the long-term, the question is, can we give a variety of experiences without more resources?”

Payzant said the district has made incremental progress in changing its teaching methods to succeed with more students, such as new reading programs, classes to push college-preparatory subjects for Latinos and blacks, and for allowing students in grades Kindergarten to third grade to work at their own pace.

Principals from several schools testified Tuesday at the trustees’ meeting about efforts by their teachers to make a difference, but a majority of the district’s 160 schools do not have special plans to reach more students.

“Schools will have to do these things within existing resources,” Payzant said, referring to $37 million in budget cuts the district made earlier this spring as a result of the state’s $15-billion budget deficit.

Board president Shirley Weber complained about the lack of accountability for teachers and principals who do not try new ideas, but trustee John De Beck was the only board member to vote against the new policy, saying that the lack of detail makes it tantamount to “social promotion” for students doing poorly academically.