Social Promotion vs Repeating a Grade : No Viable Debate

These are alternative courses of action for dealing with a child who has failed to master the course of studies mandated for a given grade level. There can be no viable debate on which alternative is better because each child is an individual, and the reasons for his failure to achieve will be unique to his own situation.

Social promotion is a strategy whereby a child passes to the next grade with his peers in June, even though he has not mastered all or even the basic requirements of the core curriculum for the previous grade.

Why would a student be recommended for social promotion? In most cases this is only done after a battery of tests have indicated that the child is functioning at peak capacity, that he lacks the ability to progress any further, at least at present, and that retaining him would be of little educational value.

This approach allows him to continue to progress in activities which he enjoys and in which performs satisfactorily such as sports, art, drama, and music. He will remain with friends and continue to be a part of the group he has probably been with since Kindergarten. His social circle will remain unchanged and his social skills will be absorbed and reinforced within his peer group.

Ideally, in areas governed by larger school boards with adequate funding, the student moving ahead through social promotion will receive help to complete assignments within the next classroom from a remedial teacher. He will also be withdrawn at specific times for individual attention so he will remain functioning at his peak potential, even though it may not equal the ability of his classmates.

There are also special cases where a child will be recommended for social promotion, such as when he or she is suffering from a serious illness or severe disability. It is often judged that the student already has enough to deal with, without adding the additional stress of a perceived failure at school.

In addition, when a child is behind, but testing indicates that he or she has average or near average ability, and the parent pledges to obtain tutoring help through the summer months and to retain the tutor to support the child during the upcoming year, social promotion may be allowed for the following year. If the student fails to make satisfactory progress through the next grade, he would then have to repeat.

The option of repeating the grade is chosen when a student of average ability or better has not satisfactorily completed the curriculum for a specific grade. His failure may have been due to illness, or emotional upset, such as the divorce of his parents, or a death in the family. He may have moved during the year, or been absent for a lengthy period. Sometimes, the causative factor is just plain irresponsibility or laziness.

It is hoped that repeating the grade will remedy the problem, whatever it was, and that the student's educational path will be smooth and trouble-free from that point on.

This explanation should clarify why there can be no viable debate between social promotion or repeating a grade for dealing with an under-achieving student. Each stategy is utilized to deal with a different cause.

To retain a child who is doing his best and is incapable of doing any better, would be useless. It would only cause him unhappiness, damage his self-esteem, disrupt his friendships, and impede his progress in subject areas which he enjoyed and in which he was making progress. Social promotion is obviously the best solution for him.

To push a capable child ahead even though he had not mastered the skills for his present grade would be doing him an equal disservice. He could not cope with the next grade's tasks without the necessary prerequisite skills and these difficulties could negatively affect his attitude toward learning and school. His whole educational future might be put at risk.

Thankfully, these decisions are only relevant to children in elementary school. High schools usually have such a variety of programs, and courses that every student can be accommodated with an appropriate placement.

In a perfect world, the same opportunity would be available to every child at the elementary-school level, but for the present educators must cope with the staffing and resources which government funding allows them to put in place.