The decay in the quality of education is due to a breakdown in authority the schools have over students and educational processes. Emphasis must be placed on the school's power to determine minimum competencies through periodic evaluation, and, if necessary, to prescribe remedial education or grade repetition. Schools should have special reading…

In the later part of school year 1973-74, both of the district's junior high schools surveyed their respective seventh grade student rosters to identify those boys and girls who were overaged for the grade. The junior highs formed committees composed of administrators, counselors, and the school psychologist to review and make a recommeendation…

Author states that: "With everything that the schools have been forced to do and the poor conditions under which they are expected to perform, it is often more a wonder that students learn anything at all than that they have trouble learning."

A Michigan elementary school has developed an unusual six-tier grading structure to accommodate the needs of children at different stages of development. They provide half-step classrooms that allow students to move forward in school at a rate that allows success. (MD)

Retention practices are poorly documented yet the most comprehensive research on retention (Holmes and Mathews) shows that children who repeat a grade make less progress than similar children who are promoted. Explores the contradiction existing between school reform policy and actual retention practice. (MD)

Discusses how the one-sided pursuit of a higher rate of promotion through examinations in China has brought about such negative effects as decreasing attention to ordinary middle schools; placing undue concentration on a small minority of superior students; slackening of political, ideological, and physical education; and concentrating exclusively…

Reviews the history of grade repetition as a remedy for inadequate student achievement, examines recent trends in grade repetition policies, cites research findings relating to the effectiveness of grade repetition, clarifies the responsibilities of school personnel in making grade repetition decisions, and discusses alternatives to simple…

This literature review cautions that the issue of whether promotion or retention is more beneficial to student achievement is especially murky when it becomes a political decision. It concludes that grade retention seems to ignore the question of instructional effectiveness, blames the child for failure, and absolves the school of responsibility.…

Describes a collaborative project between Canadian elementary and junior high school counselors designed to ease the transition between elementary and junior high school. The orientation program included school visits and tours, counseling sessions, a buddy system, and a concentrated effort to combat rumors. (JAC)

Retention and social promotion are expensive failures. History and research show that retention and social promotion are ineffective in improving student learning and achievement. The alternative to these failed strategies is to personalize the learning environment. Research indicates six promising strategies for personalization, thereby reducing…

This document discusses the accuracy of student placement procedures for math and English at the College of the Canyons. A survey was conducted to assess the degree to which students agreed with their placement into their first math or English course at the College of the Canyons. Students were also asked to indicate whether they felt that they…

The 2000-2001 school year marked the first year of implementation of the Wake County Board of Education's Promotion and Intervention Policy at grades K through 8. It also marked the first year of the state's requirement that third, fifth, and eight grade students demonstrate grade level proficiency on the state End-of-Grade tests in reading and…

This document examines the possible impact of a proposed standardization of placement scores for college English throughout the Connecticut Community College system. The 12 Connecticut community colleges use Accuplacer for placement into college English. Each college, however, uses different placement cut-off scores, and has varying structures of…

The demographic analysis of the educational process has been of great assistance to the work of educational planners, who must continually estimate the size of future student enrollments at different levels of the educational structure. (Author)