4,700 At-Risk Students’ Parents Notified

Parents of about 4,700 elementary and middle school students in the Garden Grove Unified School District have received notice that their children are in danger of being held back.

New state laws passed this year are requiring schools to develop new criteria for grade promotion in an attempt to reduce retention and curb the practice of social promotion--passing a student who should be held back because of poor performance.

The reaction has been mixed, Faylane Elementary School Principal Frank Mackay said Thursday.

“We had a parent meeting recently and introduced [the new program] to them,” said Mackay. “Some were gravely concerned, and others were very supportive.”

With the new laws comes additional funding for intervention programs, many of which have already been started at district schools. Mackay said his teachers underwent special training last year to identify at-risk students and provide them with the assistance they need to advance.

“I think it was more of a wake-up call for [parents],” Mackay said. “When parents used to see low scores, they didn’t think too much about it. But now they’re much more concerned. The thing I like most about [the new program] is that it not only puts the responsibility on the students, it puts it on the school as well.”

Earlier this year, a district task force met to establish criteria for identifying students at risk of being held back, as state guidelines have yet to be established. The task force also addressed parent-notification procedures and in which grade levels retention should be considered. However, the task force focused primarily on prevention measures.

“We don’t want to see this as a way to punish students,” said Alan Trudell, district spokesman. “We see this as a positive step to help our students reach those grade-level standards.”

Trudell emphasized that holding a student back is the final intervention measure, only to be used when all other efforts fail.

“Research suggests that neither grade retention nor social promotion have any benefits for students,” said Trudell.

Trudell said that according to the National Research Council, holding a student back one grade level doubles his or her chance of dropping out of school and that a student who is held back two or more times has an 80% to 90% chance of dropping out.

“Holding students back also hurts taxpayers,” Trudell said. “Students are put at further risk with no evidence that these tax dollars make a difference.”

Trudell said that parental involvement is key. Parents can help by encouraging at-home reading, limiting television viewing, reviewing homework, discussing daily school lessons and urging participation in school activities.

Chris Ceballos may be reached at (714) 966-7440.