Corey Russell's column last Friday raised a question about why such a high percentage of Sunnyside students failed the state proficiency exam this past spring.
Could it be that some of the students are failing because school districts are failing them by not failing them?
Somewhere along the line, districts across the country made the decision to pass students from one grade to the next whether they were able to do the work or not. To save them from embarrassment and low self-esteem was one argument that was advanced for that change.
I believe this system of not holding a student back until he or she can grasp the concepts being taught in one grade is simply piling on a load that the student has to carry to the next grade. Without the basic building blocks needed at the next level, a student is not only weighed down by unlearned subject matter, but is saddled with yet another load he or she is not equipped to handle.
Is it any surprise that students passed along to carry that kind of stress eventually stumble and fall?
I'm reminded of a high school graduate I once hired as an office clerk. One of her first jobs was to add a column of figures that contained fractions. She couldn't do it, said she didn't understand fractions, didn't know what they were. After we had a short session with a handful of quarters, her face registered a look of pleased surprise and she said, "Is that what one fourth means?"
That was a long time ago, but it appears math is still causing kids problems they haven't been equipped to solve. I think some are also struggling with grammar because I hear many graduates of all ages and in all walks of life using the term 'these ones' when referring to a group of things (such as the blouses for which I was shopping last week).
I am not saying that all of the students who scored low on this spring's proficiency exam should have been retained at some point in the academic process, but someone should have been noticing, listening...and caring...well before they reached tenth grade.
I think Corey Russell has reason to be concerned. I think we all do.
/s/ Frances Potts, Sunnyside
