Schools Still Promoting Most Poor Performers

Despite efforts to end the practice of social promotion, the Los Angeles Unified School District advanced an overwhelming percentage of its lowest-performing students this year, new data show.

The figures indicate that larger numbers of students than anyone expected are advancing to the next grade woefully unprepared.

The data show that 81% of last year’s second-graders and 98% of eighth-graders who scored in the bottom quarter of the Stanford 9 exam were promoted.

Perhaps even more striking, 66% of second-graders and 96% of eighth-graders who scored at or below the 5th percentile on the test were advanced.

School board member David Tokofsky, who requested the information, said the district’s social promotion plan has fallen far short of its goal of catching failing students.

“I’m waiting for an explanation,� Tokofsky said. “The bottom line is that something should be done to dramatically assist those students who are at the bottom.�

The district announced in September that it was holding back 6,350 second- and eighth-graders, about half the number officials had expected to retain. The low number raised questions at the time about the district’s effectiveness in identifying failing students, particularly in eighth grade, where the numbers plunged from a projected 3,800 to just 648. The test data underscore that concern.

The second and eighth grades were the only ones targeted in the social promotion policy, which took effect last school year. The district intends to gradually expand the policy, but no grades were added this year.

Scores from the Stanford 9 are not used to determine whether second- and eighth-graders are retained because the test results are not available when decisions are being made.

Instead, the district relies on teachers’ judgments and other criteria.

Students are held back if they receive failing grades in reading or English, and if they repeatedly fail a district writing assignment. Those still learning English are retained if they fail to demonstrate adequate progress in the language.

Although the Stanford 9 did not play a role in last year’s retention decisions, the test scores are an important indicator of academic failure, many district officials believe.

Tokofsky has sought to link the two. He has introduced a motion calling for schools to hold back second- and eighth-graders who score below the 5th percentile on the Stanford 9. He has argued that minimal, objective criteria must be established if the district is going to catch the neediest students.

There is widespread disagreement on the value of using the Stanford 9 to evaluate student achievement, and what ranking would indicate failure. For instance, the district considers students scoring below the 36th percentile to be at risk of failing and targets them for extra assistance.

The data Tokofsky requested show that 3,790 second-graders scored at or below the 5th percentile on the Stanford 9, but that just 1,290 were retained this year.

Similarly, 3,413 eighth-graders scored at or below the 5th percentile, but only 137 were held back.

Some students were retained even though they had high Stanford 9 scores, including 34 who were above the 50th percentile, the national average.

Critics say the test data prove that teachers have too much discretion in deciding which students to advance. Teachers follow scoring guides when giving grades and evaluating writing assignments. But subjectivity also plays a part in many decisions.

“I could be a teacher who thinks the kids are doing great in reading and all they’re doing is fluff in the classroom,� said one district official who asked not to be named. “Teacher expectation has everything to do with it.�

A range of other factors influences decisions on whether to promote students. District officials say that teachers at some overcrowded campuses may feel pressure to promote some students for lack of space on campus. Those who are retained attend smaller classes that eat up precious classroom space.

In eighth grade, teachers must balance academic needs with social pressures on students who remain behind in middle school.

Eighth-grade teachers also widely agree that their retention numbers were surprisingly low because the prospect of repeating a grade motivated many students to improve their performances.

“The students knew from the beginning that if they didn’t pass English, they weren’t going to high school,� said Jenn Wolfe, an eighth-grade teacher at Sutter Middle School in Canoga Park. “They didn’t want to stay.�

Some in the district contend that low Stanford 9 scores don’t necessarily mean a child should be retained. Pupils who are learning English may have low test scores, but nonetheless may show enough progress during the school year to move ahead, the officials say.

“These kids are still learning the English language,� said Supt. Roy Romer. “Are they going to learn it by holding them back or giving them more time and more attention in the classes they’re in?�

Teachers in the field offered similar arguments.

“If you’re just looking at the Stanford 9 scores, you’re not looking at the whole picture,� said Christina Rodriguez, a second-grade teacher at South Park Elementary in South Los Angeles.

Rodriguez said that last spring’s Stanford 9 exhausted some of her most prepared students. They got low scores but showed gradual improvement in her class.

“The test was so long, they got tired,� she said. “That one test can’t measure all the growth they’ve had all year.�

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Social Promotion Continues

Only a small percentage of the second- and eighth-graders with the lowest Stanford 9 test scores were held back this year under L.A. Unifieds social promotion program. Most of the students were allowed to move up a grade. Overall, retained pupils make up 10% of the districts second-graders. Retained eighth-graders represent 1% of their group.

Source: L.A.Unified School District