Kids Won’t Be Retained Under New Plan--Yet

About 4,700 elementary and middle school students in the Garden Grove Unified School District, identified last fall as being at-risk of being held back a grade, have received a reprieve of sorts. District officials say decisions to retain underachieving students will not be made until the end of the 2000-01 school year.

New state laws have mandated that school districts develop programs to curtail social promotion--passing students who should be held back because of poor performance.

It has become district policy to not make decisions about holding students back until after they have been through 18 months of of intensive, academic-intervention programs.

“Obviously, the goal is to improve the students’ achievement; to identify their problems and give them the help they need,” said Alan Trudell, district spokesman. “The retention of students is the last of our options and only when the other programs are unsuccessful.”

To improve the performance of underachievers, many of the district’s schools have begun offering after-school clinics, tutoring classes and opportunities for specialized academic support in reading and math.

A 50-member task force of teachers, parents, and school and district administrators helped develop the district’s new policy and new procedures to determine whether students should be promoted or retained.

The new state law targets grades two through five, and the end of grades six and eight, as the time to identify at-risk students and decide if they should be held back. The task force determined that grades three, six and eight are the key grades for retention consideration.

“Those are the gatekeeper grades,” Trudell said. By third grade, students should be demonstrating a mastery of reading skills. “Sixth grade is the grade before entering intermediate school [in the Garden Grove district] and eight is the grade before entering high school.”

However, an at-risk student can be held back at any time if his or her teacher determines that retention is appropriate and that all other options have been unsuccessful. When the decision is made, it will be based on such factors as class grades, a writing sample and assessments in reading and mathematics.

The new procedures also address how at-risk students are identified, how parents are notified and how parents can appeal decisions.

“The key is to be in communication with the parents with progress reports and parent conferences,” Trudell said. “And we’re hopeful too that this program creates a heightened awareness in the parent. Parent participation is a key element in trying to help the students.”

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